By Deepa Majumdar
The 23 year old young Indian woman, who has, in the last few days, occupied our hearts, minds and prayers, has died needlessly in Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital. The courage of this heroic woman will go down in the annals of Indian history as a tragic force of social change. The six men who raped and beat her, inserting a rod into her body … all this in a moving bus in Delhi … are difficult for any civilized person to understand. Not even the most savage of animals behave this way. What kind of mothers and fathers did they have? How did they treat their sisters and other womenfolk in the family? What kind of sick conception of the carnal did they have? What kind of sadism fueled their imagination … above all what kind of punishment is fit for so gruesome a crime? Why did Manmohan Singh’s government move her from Delhi to Singapore? This case calls for a thorough investigation.
Too many Indian women have died in the hands of sexually violent men … some of them little girls. I have in mind the case of eleven year old Phulmoni Guha, who was allowed to bleed to death in 1889, after being brutally raped by her thirty five year old husband, Hari Mohan Maitee. This tragedy served as a catalyst to the Age of Consent Act of 1891, through which, the British Government raised the age of sexual consent, for Indian girls, from ten to twelve. In the last few days a rash of rapes has pock marked the nation … some of the victims were little girls. What kind of a sick adult would rape a little child?
The fact that this young woman fought the six men in Delhi, speaks volumes for the courage and grit of Indian women. The unspeakable wounds she received in the hands of her gory attackers, make me shudder at the mindset of these men. Before this great tragedy all the glory of the Indian civilization stands still. It is hard to believe that this same land was once renowned for its ascetic virtues. The near neurotic fuss over purity and chastity in the Indian ethos needs to be examined. Real purity of mind and true chastity begin with a feminist quest for justice.
I cannot begin to imagine how her parents must feel at this moment … nor her friend who fought back and was also assaulted by the six men. I can imagine the hollow pain in their hearts. Her body brutally crucified at the abattoir of the Indian patriarchy, this young woman has, through her excruciating pain, opened the eyes of at least some of Indians. Hopefully, this awakening will translate into concrete action that spreads to all parts of India. To me, the most cruel aspect of sexual violence against women in India, is the fact that the character of the rape survivor is called into question … which means that “sex workers” can therefore be raped with impunity. This is a stench and a stain upon the soul of India. To love India without protesting this stain, is to be culpable of this stain. Had this young woman survived, what kind of life would she have led? Would she have been left at peace … or would her character have been assassinated?
Beyond bowing our heads in respect and holding a moment of silence to mourn her loss, we should put aside our emotions and work out a nation-wide plan of change … real change … massive transformation of hearts and minds … a shock and awe approach along with slower long term approaches. The only way to vindicate the loss of this precious soul, is to demand and bring about change … permanent change. This change has to be a feminist dialysis of the entire Indian culture.
