Editor,
Only a few months ago when the Union Cabinet approved amendments to strengthen the POCSO act, including death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children and death penalty for those involved in crime against women, there was hope that such crimes would lessen. But the Hyderabad gang rape case shows that criminal minded brutes are not at all deterred by strict laws and they are present everywhere waiting for a chance to pounce upon the weaker sex.
A young lady attacked and murdered so ruthlessly by lewd, lustful and debauch, heartless men In Hyderabad poses the question: Where we are moving to as a society? Is this a savage era or the cave age era? It is pathetic to see a nation which worshipped women in the past ill-treating the same sex now. Therefore in today’s environment very heavy and stringent measures are imperative to deter the rising trend of sexual abuse. Stringent punishment should be enforced with immediate effect on sexual predators. The law should be implemented at the earliest as the plight of our women and children have further worsened with shocking incidents of brutal rape and sexual assaults occurring every day. These incidents make the lives our women very unsafe and sometimes fatal. Though we have moved from the middle ages to the cyber era the status of our girls and women remain the same.
Are women and children just pleasure yielding toys and machines? Unless sex education is included in our education; until the idea of sex as a taboo subject in our highly orthodox community is not eradicated and unless severe punishments, including death penalty are brought into force, we are sure to come across more and more of such horrific cases of sexual crimes. The state and the central governments must act together urgently and put an end to such horrendous, horrifying, nauseating and atrocious incidents which make women’s life a deadly nightmare.
Yours etc.,
M Pradyu,
Kannur
Horrific crime
Editor,
The gang-rape and murder of a GHMC assistant veterinary surgeon in Hyderabad has shocked the nation with mob fury towards the four accused spilling over. The Shadnagar police station witnessed sporadic incidents of mob violence. Contrary to the usual procedure of the accused being produced before the magistrate after their arrest by the police, the magistrate himself went to the police station due to massive protests near the station against the accused involved in rape and murder of the 26-year-old veterinarian.
The ploy of the murder had been hatched by the accused well in advance. The four accused are Mohammad Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chennakesavuluwho are all in their twenties. They are residents of Narayanpet town and work as lorry drivers and cleaners. In the evening Areef and Shiva had come to the toll plaza with a truckload of bricks. As there was a delay in unloading, they waited near the toll plaza. About 6.30 pm, they saw the young woman parking her bike and when she disappeared, they punctured the tyre of the two-wheeler. When she returned later, Areef and Shiva offered to help her get it repaired. While she was talking to her sister over mobile phone, she was forcibly pulled into a compound nearby where the men gang-raped her and smothered her to death.
The murder was so shocking and it could have been avoided if her sister’s pleadings were heeded. Her sister had pleaded her to leave the two wheeler and return home immediately. But fate struck her thus snuffing out her precious life. The macabre killing points to how the childhood of the culprits was shaped up. It points to the circumstances wherein they had been poorly brought up without giving them good education and thus they became savages at heart though outwardly they looked good. Good education is one way of making a person conscientious and respectful of life. It is hoped that education coupled with good upbringing will reduce perpetration of crime in society.
Yours etc.,
TK Nandanan,
Via email
Wine stores near hospitals and schools
Editor,
When you rush a TB patient to the only TB hospital in the State you are greeted by two wine stores and a number of restaurants along the road from Jhalupara to Barapathar. Sale of liquor is brisk business from early morning to late-night. Hence the environment around the localities is unusually spirited. The restaurants here serve their customers with gusto and impunity. Needless to say, many TB patients are their promising customers. Less than 300 meters away from the hospital premises, the patient can buy alcohol almost any time. Nothing can be more disgusting than “open selling” of liquor near this Hospital of repute. Even the foolish consider this as totally and morally unacceptable. With a number of schools, temples, churches and Masjids within close proximity, restaurants and wine stores are veritable blots in the localities. A quick survey would throw up the “data” which can make everyone disgusted and frustrated. While many youths are becoming habitual drinkers, the worried parents are losing their hope.
Alcohol is directly or indirectly responsible for affecting the households of countless families in the state. Many wives are widowed and many children orphaned. It is because the husbands or fathers could not “control” their “addictive temptation”. Thus, they finally “succumb” to liver failure, pancreatitis etc., Just check with female hawkers and vendors around and what they have to say about their families. They have heart-rending stories to share. Some are widowed and have been compelled to take up these petty trade in order to feed their children as their husbands are alcoholics or have died prematurely due to “excessive” drinking.
It is ridiculous that these days along the road side our attention is drawn to the blinking fancy lights where alcohol of various brands are sold. Exactly as the half-hidden from the eye of Wordsworth’s poem ‘Lucy,’ the liquor shops behind serve one and all. Is it not an “eyewash” so far as the strict regulations against hard drinks is concerned? Now it has become easier for school students to secretly get bottles of wine and cans of beer. Many of the narrow roads and footpaths near the colleges are strewn with wine bottles and beer cans.
A father of three children, and a senior officer in the Govt. department laments – “The future of our children is far more important than the wine stores. We must impress this fact upon the concerned authorities. It’s very disheartening to see young children openly drinking in restaurants and in the open. So, I hardly allow my children to leave the house after 6 PM. We honestly fear they may fall into the wrong companions with bad habits.” Another doctor claims, “The wine stores and restaurants that sell alcohol near this TB Hospital and academic intuitions should be opposed tooth and nail. The future of our youths is far more important than revenues.”
Indeed revenue collection should not be the only motto. Earning at the cost of citizens’ health and their precious lives is ethically unjustified. Perhaps the Government should be more realistic and more considerate of “health factors” of the general public. The Government should work for the welfare of the public. Hence it should not turn a blind eye to the steady degeneration of the youth and family and social values because of its flawed policies and plans. Building the “character” of the youth is far more important than generating revenue.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong-2