The gang-rape of a 19 year old Dalit girl from Hathras village, Uttar Pradesh (UP) two weeks ago and her death on Tuesday due to grievous injuries is a grim reminder of the Nirbhaiya rape case. The Dalit girl was gang-raped by four upper caste men which brings to the fore the worst case scenario of a caste ridden society in 21st century India. This case and many others that are surfacing even now while the country is battling Covid just goes to show that women as a category are as vulnerable today despite all the laws that this country has passed against rape, from time to time. This incident is also a harsh indictment of the continuing caste discrimination in India even today and how Dalits have borne the harshest brunt of this societal curse.
To add insult to injury, the body of the deceased rape victim was cremated by the UP Police between Tuesday midnight and the wee hours of Wednesday, even while the family were barred from attending the last rites. How much more cruelty can be heaped on a family that has just lost their daughter? And now the UP police even want to bury the fact of the gang rape along with the girl’s ashes. Can this poor family now seek justice when they are not even allowed to have a glimpse of her dead body for the last time? That women leaders of the BJP are completely silent on this issue in a state ruled by the same Party shows how politics defines their reaction and not the safety and security of women.
UP Chief Minister, Yogi Aditya Nath has since called for a Special Investigation Team to probe the rape case. Secretary Home, Bhagwan Swarup, will lead the SIT and DIG, Chandraprakash, and commandant PAC Agra, Poonam, will be its members. The SIT has been asked to submit its report in seven days time and Yogi Adityanath has asked for conducting the trial of the case in a fast track court. But the brother of the deceased victim says the family has no faith in the government and that Dalits feel unsafe in Hathras because they are marked. Indeed, the slogan coined by the Modi government, ‘beti bachao, beti parhao’ (save daughters, educate daughters) has become an empty rhetoric slogan in a country wracked by rape case after rape case.
The Nirbhaiya rape case saw a nationwide stir and outrage. Will this case receive similar attention of will it be just another rape case?