Where are we heading to?

Remember the Nirbhya case that took place on 16 December 2012? Everyone of almost from every society in this country wanted a strict law against rapists and safety of women at that time from the then government. The government obliged by making a law at the recommendation of Verma Committee. At that time it looked like the problem will be solved forever and we all were expecting our women will be safe in future. Our society expected a safer woman in India with no more cases like the unfortunate Nirbhya faced during that night. The society expected a strict action from law enforcing agencies in further such cases and better law protecting the interests of women.

 But the fact is nothing seems to have changed even after that barbaric act and all the rules after that case. Police is least bothered to take any action unless something wrong happens and a political pressure comes from higher quarters. Administration doesn't seem to care a bit once the heat is off. The current incident of rape that is in limelight is again from the capital and December 2012 is being repeated all over again.   

The moral values

If you ask me I will say the moral values in our country are going down by the day. The number of people who feel the woman is nothing but a commodity that is available on demand or if you don’t get it on your demand you can use them by force. The greed in man’s eye is increasing constantly looking at women as if looking at something made to provide them pleasure only.  As if the woman serves just one purpose and if they try to get her by force there is nothing wrong in that. This thinking is increasing and so is the number of atrocities with women. The irony is the media discuss the incidents taking place in capital and surrounding areas but if they were reporting all the incidents there would be nothing else to report. The actual number of such cases is far bigger than actually meets the eye but most of it doesn't come into light.

Then what is the way out? The need is to change the mentality of the society and if that is not possible let the law take its course.  We have the required law but the implementation is too sluggish. The ball is in the court of police administration and unless they implement the rules honestly there is no way we can stop the criminals. The criminals must have fear of law and this should not be limited to criminals but entire society should have respect for law and when I say entire society the police force is very much part of the society too. But the fact is there I no respect for law and order as the entire police force have become entirely ineffective for different reasons. Even the policemen feel the women are responsible for crimes against themselves. The police force does not take such crimes seriously therefore the criminals feel they can get away easily. That is one of the main reasons the criminals have no fear of police.

The recent case

By now every detail is available openly. According to police the cab company did not get the police verification of cab driver. The driver never lived at the address that was used for registration of the car that shows a fake address was used. The driver had no valid license for last six months and driving in capital. The registered mobile phone was shared by three cabbies and the GPS was not installed in car but it was the mobile service provider’s facility given to phone so practically no GPS service available in what is supposed to be the main facility of a radio car. These are initial investigation reports and let’s wait for more reports to come you will see bigger mistakes and lacuna on part of cab company as well as police and other related departments.

Who is responsible?

Let’s keep in our mind when a foreign based company comes in the market with so many promises charging so much extra money in the name of security and comfort and found wanting so seriously it’s matter of great concern. I and my family members have been using such services during our stay in Delhi, Gurgaon and Bangalore without having any doubt on the outward appearance of something, especially when the reality is different that certainly is a serious matter.  The actual responsibility lies with the police as they failed to complete the investigation before letting the company operate. The cab providing company is equally responsible as they failed checking the necessary documents of the cars they attached with their agency. The company where the girl in question serves is also as much responsible as it was the company that signs an agreement with such service providers so they are equally responsible. Finally it’s a case that seems to have five major faults which are obviously as much as we can see them. It’s a clear case against cab providing company that is been denied by the company on certain legal issues.  

Or is that police that is really accountable in this case, there is no doubt the questions will be raised. We should keep in mind that police failed to stop the incident but only managed to nab the culprit based on information provided to them.  They did not learn any lessons after the incident that took place exactly two years before but found absolutely wanting taking the necessary steps to prevent such heinous crimes. What about the social organizations that were formed to stop such incidents but we have a habit of waking up only after something bad happens and fire on all cylinders. I will blame the present government partially too as they too failed as much the old governments did. After all the new government is no more new but all of six months old. This government should have known better than what they have been trying to do now.

Role of the media

I agree media has a role to play and we cannot expect them to keep mum in such cases but repeating the same news on 20 channels 100 times a day makes it look as if there were hundreds of girls raped at the same time. Please excuse me for being too rude but why can’t our media look beyond capital? There are hundreds of cases taking place in every state every state but the limit of our media does not extend beyond 20-30 kilometers from their offices. And what about National Commission for Women? After all they are the apex national level organization of India with the mandate of protecting and promoting the interests of women. What do they do apart from asking the government after such an incident takes place? Why not they keep insisting for proper implementation of rules? After all they have the mandate to ask the government all such questions. What do they actually do before anything goes seriously wrong?  

Conclusion

The cruel fact is when something goes wrong in a metro we all wake up from our dreams and begin shouting at each other. The government begins assuring public and opposition about their sincerity and willingness to apply the law forcefully. A change here and a change there and then wait for the next incident to start all over again. The time has come when we shall have to stay awake and see to it that a strict law comes into force and all such incident irrespective of where they take place whether in metros or small villages tackled with strong hands. The public is in no mood to listen to the promise that is made without any intention of being followed through anymore.

Image source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape