The news of brothers raping their own sisters in a village in Ri Bhoi district and that the matter had to be reported to the police by village authorities has shaken the soul of Meghalaya. Or has it? Beyond the one-day reportage of the incidents that had ostensibly happened repeatedly and bruised the souls of the girls who were raped, life will go on and the matter will be forgotten. That the society is broken beyond measure and that a large number of youth are a troubled lot goes without saying. Too often they have no outlet for their angst except to share with equally disturbed peers. The mobile phone has today become the pacifier for their sexual escapades. Pornography is available on every handset and the impact that this has on young minds has perhaps not yet been studied. The mobile phone replaced the classroom during the Covid years and the online classes served their purpose. But it also became a dopamine inducing substance that the young seem to be constantly in need of. Some are now addicted to pornography.
Psychologists aver that exposure to pornography at a young age leads to poor mental health, sexism and objectification, sexual violence, and other negative outcomes. Among other risks, when children view pornography that portrays abusive and misogynistic acts, they may come to view such behaviour as normal and acceptable. This is perhaps the reason for crimes against women and increasingly against younger girls who have not even reached the age of puberty and are not in a position to defend themselves.The Ri-Bhoi district police have arrested the three brothers, one of whom is a juvenile in this case. What is worrying here is that the mother of the perpetrators and the victims knew about the incest but could not bring herself to report the matter to the police. There is no mention about the father. Possibly the woman is a widow or a single parent which is common in Meghalaya.
Rape is the result of deeply rooted social, cultural, legal, and psychological factors. Based on societal studies and crime data in India and closer home in Meghalaya, this violence is not the result of sexual desire, but it as an act of power, control, and domination. Clearly those three brothers must suffer from mental health problems. Key factors contributing to rape are many and include misogyny and deeply embedded patriarchal structures which treat women as inferior beings and commodities to be used and controlled. Also, the aversion to discuss sex and its consequences openly in the classroom or within families and treating it as a hush-hush affair only worsens the situation.In our societies today men are socialized to view violence and dominance as signs of masculinity, while misogynistic cultural traditions normalize the devaluation of women. The fact that matriliny in this state is often romanticised while the harsh realities are kept under wraps because of the need to exhibit only the good side to the world has only created more problems for women because they are the ultimate victims. How this case will take its course and whether society will come forward to discuss the present issue and the larger ramifications it entails remains to be seen. Efforts to sweep this incest under the carpet will only worsen the situation.
