Since the December 16 rape case and its aftermath national television channels have been debating about what is wrong with the laws, the law enforcers and the justice delivery system. Clichéd statements about the policing system in India being hugely defective, and the Indian Police Act redundant are repeated ad nauseum. Police are still busy guarding the lives of VIPs and their families. They still treat the common citizen with disrespect, particularly if the citizen is poor and illiterate. Even getting an FIR registered is a tall order for the majority of citizens in this country. Police is still an adversarial force. They are not someone you turn to for help and protection. This kind of police force cannot change colour overnight. Some leading NGOs have pleaded for police reforms. An ex-DGP of Haryana had even petitioned the court to bring changes to the Police Act. But even with the court directives to the Centre and state governments, things have not progressed. In Meghalaya, the Police Reforms Committee constituted in 2003 had submitted its recommendations to the Government. Those recommendations are in cold storage, evidently because implementing them entails additional expenditure. The Police Department in nearly all states faces acute financial crunch and the men are treated with disdain by their seniors. No wonder corruption is rampant and the morale of the men so low.
Police are at the cutting edge of investigation work, following which a criminal can be charge-sheeted. But investigation, particularly of rape is so shoddy and the investigating officer so incompetent and gender insensitive that the case has no legs to stand on even while the victim is doubly harassed. This is why justice is denied to most victims of rape and other crimes. India is also notorious for its deformed justice delivery system. The statement, ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ is very appropriate for India where lawyers and judges can be bribed and even a murderer can walk out unscathed. All these glaring systemic defects must be addressed. The political class will not do so unless pushed to the wall hence the pressure on Government must mount in order for corrective measures to be taken. Enough is enough as the placards at Jantar Mantar say. However, while addressing the external factors some domestic issues too need addressing Respect for the girl child must start from the mother’s womb. A female foetus is not dispensable. She is a life and she has the right to live. It is this disdain for a girl’s life which make men believe they can hurt, rape and brutalise women and get away with it. This mindset change is perhaps the hardest of all. Only when the male psyche changes and women are respected will social change be possible. Laws alone do not a society make.
