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[1] From: dnrad1 <dnrad1@sancharnet.in Date: Mon May 23, 2005 Subject: Predators on the prowl The Pioneer Home . Predators on the prowl. Monday, May 23, 2005 Pioneer Joginder Singh The figures of National Crime Research Bureau indicate that the incidents of rape have increased from 15,330 in 1997 to 16,496 in 2000. This includes custodial rape which is worse because it is done by the guardians of the law who are duty bound to protect people from such heinous crimes. At times, the authority vested in men in uniform seems to go to their heads encouraging them to commit the gravest of offences such as rape. The latest to join the ranks of a uniformed rapist is a constable of the Mumbai Police who allegedly raped a girl inside a police post at Mumbai's Marine Drive on April 21, 2004, purportedly under the influence of alcohol. Since then, the constable has been arrested, remanded to police custody and dismissed from service. However, this is hardly a consolation to the victim, her family or even the public at large. Moreover, neither is this the first nor the last case in which deeds of people in authority have tainted their own image. Indeed, we have countless instances of policemen being accused of sexual harassment. On September 6, 2003, a 22-year-old private nurse was raped by a ward boy at Delhi's Shanti Mukund Hospital in East Delhi. The rapist, Bhura, has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Earlier, he had made a despicable offer to marry the victim, pretending as if he wished to save her from ignominy. However, his offer was nothing more than a ploy to escape punishment. Once again on September 23, 2003, a 15-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a doctor in the Holy Angels Hospital in Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. A 17-year-old Delhi University student was raped by four jawans of the President's Body Guard the same year near the Capital's Buddha Jayanti park. Incidentally, these jawans are supposed to be among one of the best in the Army and are handpicked to take care of the President's security. A sex scandal rocked judicial circles in Rajasthan in November 2002 when a deputy registrar of the High Court was suspended for seeking sexual favours for himself and a couple of judges from a woman litigant. Another woman had complained in August 2004 against the then serving director general of Meteorological Department. She accused him of sexually harassing her over a period of 10 years. According to her, she had got the job by using his influence and did not want to lose it. She alleged that she was forced into a physical relationship with the accused. She claimed that the accused prevented her from getting married. In a similar case, an aspiring actress called Preeti Jain filed a complaint in July 2004 against film director Madhur Bhandarkar for allegedly raping her 16 times between 1999 and 2004 and even threatening to kill her. In yet another shocking incident of sexual assault, a 29-year-old teacher was arrested for allegedly raping a minor student over a year. It is obnoxious that those on duty-who are supposed to protect people-do exactly the opposite. However, it is society which is responsible for the prevailing situation in which sexual harassment takes place brazenly. Also, to downplay such heinous crimes is unjustifiable. The fact that the society attaches stigma to rape indicates that the victim is victimised further. Cases of sexual assault are kept as guarded secret by the guardians of victims so that it does not jeopardise their marriage prospects. On an average, rape cases take anywhere between two and ten years to be decided. In one such instance, it took 15 years to wrap up a case. According to a report released by Delhi Commission for Women, "Only 20 per cent of rape cases are reported." The conviction rate in the last four years has never exceeded more than 20 per cent. In most cases, it has been revealed that the police acts as a mediator between the accused and the victim-often for monetary considerations. This is one reason why victims are reluctant to file cases with the police. According to the Delhi Police, statistics of the last four years in the Capital reveal the following. Out of a total of 561 cases of rape in 2004, the rapist was known to the victim in 503. In 242 of such cases, the rapist was a neighbour. In 201, the rapist was a doctor, servant or priest. A large number of perpetrators were also teachers. In 39 cases, the offender was a relative, father, stepfather, father in-law, brother in-law, etc. All existing laws are framed with the objective of deterring such crimes as well as punishing the guilty. However, they need to be harsher to cause the most hardened criminals to think twice before committing any crime. Once a crime is committed, the judicial verdict must be passed expeditiously and the perpetrator punished swiftly. On both these counts, the current laws and their implementation leave much to be desired. Such loopholes in our legal system do not check the men from committing such crimes. They do so brazenly because they know from the past that there have been only a few instances when such cases reach their logical conclusion. Although there are various reasons for this, the foremost is lack of cooperation from victim and her family members. It requires uncommon courage and effort on the part of a rape victim to wait patiently for the conclusion of the case. Apart from the above handicaps, rape victims or their guardians not only have to humour but occasionally bribe the investigating or medical officers to treat the traumatised sufferer with empathy and courtesy. At times, victims are examined by male (instead of a female) doctors, which adds to their woes. According to the police, most rapists go scott free because victims turn hostile in court. This may be due to the fact that the guilty is usually known to them. The foremost problem of the victims is protracted litigation. The primary concern of parents is to help their child recover from the trauma. However, a lengthy litigation does not permit that. Also, it affects the victim's marriage prospects. Whenever an outrageous crime like rape occurs, those at the helm issue statements and order formation of committees. However, tall promises of curbing such incidents are forgotten till the next rape. Piles of reports are lying with the Government to bring about the desired changes in the law concerning rape but no concrete step has been taken so far. A committee formed under the aegis of the Home Ministry on March 2005 went over the recommendations made by the National Police Commission, the Padmanabhaiah Committee on Police Reforms, Malimath Committee on Criminal Justice System and suggestions of various State Police Reforms Commission to improve the criminal justice system in the country. However, the record is woeful in terms of implementation. Meanwhile, rape victims and their families continue to endure pain and misery. Till we have stringent laws against sexual assault as well oppression, the only remedy for women is to guard themselves against unwanted male attention. They must stay vigilant and observant and avoid going to deserted locations. A potential rapist is on the prowl in a quiet and lonely place where he can pounce upon his prey. Intuition is a good guide. If a woman senses something fishy, she must quickly be on alert. She should think twice before relying on a person, no matter how trustworthy or familiar he may be. This is because a majority of rapes are committed by those known to the victim. However, an assertive and strong woman would discourage a potential rapist. God forbid, if a lady is confronted with such a situation, she must raise alarm to draw the attention of passers-by. Children-especially girls-are advised to seek help from women, preferably the elderly. They should also be discouraged from talking to strangers and not allow entry of men in their hearths even if they are acquaintances, when they are alone. After all, prevention is the best way to deal with such crimes. -------- [2] From: "Ram Narayanan" <ramn_one@adelphia.net> Date: Tue May 24, 2005 Subject: 'Kashmir struggle' Dear Friends: A friend forwarded the following letter from Pakistan House Member M. P . Bhandara, which appeared in DAWN. Ram http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/22/letted.htm#6 DAWN, MAY 22, 2005 'Kashmir struggle' THIS refers to Mr Khalid Hasan's letter (May 16) in reply to mine (May 10). The gravamen of Mr Hasan's charge is that President Musharraf has conceded "on essentials to India on Kashmir without receiving any reciprocating gesture". Let us first examine this charge on legal merits. UN resolutions are of two types. Resolutions passed under Chapter 7 are mandatory involving sanctions and those under Chapter 6 are not. Unfortunately, the UN resolutions on Kashmir do not indicate under which chapter the resolutions were passed. Pakistan has all along stressed that the resolutions were passed under Chapter 7 because their substance provides for a detailed implementing mechanism and thus by implication has a binding character. Unfortunately, this point of view has never been supported by any of permanent members of the Security Council, including China. Pakistan has not requested for a formal opinion from the office of the UN secretary-general on this issue; perhaps there is wisdom in not doing so. Even assuming that the Kashmir resolutions were passed under Chapter 7, SC resolution 1172 has changed the legal matrix altogether. This 1998 resolution recommends that India and Pakistan should address the issue of Kashmir bilaterally. This resolution in effect endorses the mechanism provided by the Shimla Agreement followed by the Lahore and Islamabad declarations. Thus the SC has in effect altogether changed the character and remedies of the original resolutions. The Pakistani public has been deliberately fed on a diet of half truths by our governments as regards the status of the UN resolutions. The original resolutions also called for the withdrawal of our troops from Azad Kashmir before a plebiscite could be held. We agreed to this condition but long after the horse had bolted from the stable. Our undeclared policy since 1965 (Operation Gibraltar) up to Kargil was to front freedom-fighters. In the 1990s many of these fighters were loose guns. This misdirected, misconceived jihad was read as state-sponsored terrorism by the world community. Pakistan's jihadi option of the 1990s virtually destroyed our Kashmir case. Even the veteran Sardar Qayyum, supreme head of the Muslim Conference, in a recent interview declared: "Jihad has become a business. In fact, the worst damage to the Kashmir cause has been caused by the Jihadis ... Jihad has no future." I shall take Mr Hasan's word that Mahatma Gandhi visited Srinagar on August 1, 1947 to advise the ruler to remove his pro- independence prime minister. It is a measure of this great man that in the last days of his life seeing the obtaining facts, he made more than a dozen statements advocating a settlement in accordance with the wishes of the people. It is for this reason he declared a few days before his assassination: "I have been severely reprimanded for what I said concerning Kashmir." His assassin Nathu Ram Godse, inter alia, cited Gandhi's Kashmir statements in his non-defence in court. Mr Hasan refers to my reflections on a visit to Srinagar as a more or less a "rosy eyed account". Perhaps he should read the article again. I have described Srinagar as city under siege with "broken people" as inhabitants. Is it not a case of Mr Hasan seeing the Kashmir dispute through the rosy-coloured spectacles of yesterday's jihad? M.P. Bhandara Rawalpindi |
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| << May22, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]MV Kamath's article & Biharis in J &K |
May24, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Politics, Tamil Cinema Eshtyle ,Travel to Manali, Marble Rocks Jabalpur >> |
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