A rape or a physical assault is the most heinous crime a man can commit on a woman. We see cases all across the globe where women are physically assaulted, harassed, raped & killed. For the families who go through hell post such events as they have to live with the fact that their daughter/wife/mother has gone through such level of physical torture.
To add to their woes in counties like India, such cases are brushed aside most of them through the use of financial & political power. The victims family is quitened by force & the case goes out of public memory within a short span of time.
In India, the law of the land is so preposterous that when a juvenile in New Delhi along with four other majors gang raped & killed a young girl( The Nirbhaya case), the four people got sentenced to life imprisonment whereas the minor was sentenced to three years imprisonment as per the juvenile court as the law prevailing in India doesn't permit a Indian who is a minor to be sentenced to life imprisonment &/ or to be hanged.
As I write this, the minor has been released & sent to an NGO for rehabilitation. This raises the importance of reporting acts of sexual abuse to the police & let them be known in the public domain so that this inhuman acts reaches the ears & eyes of people who have the authority to take actions against people who commit such crimes & provide justice to the grieving families of the victims.
Also a bill called the Juvenile Justice Bill has been passed in the Rajya Sabha a few days back which reduces the age of the victims to be tried under the Juvenile court from 18 years to 16 years. Also a minimum punishment of 7 years will be given to a victim who commits such a crime and is a juvenile/minor.
The question I ask to every one who matters out there is , will this bill change the mindset of youngsters like the one who inflicted such unimaginable pain on Nirbhaya?
There are lots of cases like this one. Either make laws so strict so that people think countless number of times before committing such crimes or else we need to encourage reporting of such crimes more. Make people who go through this ordeal express themselves in such a way that they can get some solace.
Here are three main reasons why I think we should encourage people who report acts of sexual abuse:
1. Reporting an assault or crime doesnot commit a victim to pressing charges or to prosecuting the assailant. However, prompting reporting an assault helps to create the strongest case possible in the event that the victim decides to pursue criminal charges.
If they do delay reporting this act of inhuman behavior, physical evidence may become unusable, making the proscution less likely. In the event the victim decides not to report this heinous crime to the police or the authorities in charge of providing justice, then the process of collection of evidene will be completly stopped.
2. Even if criminal charges are not filed, reporting the crime provides law enforcement personnel( Police, CBI etc) with important, critical imformation including a description of the assailant & the method of committing the crime. Such given information maybe helpful for the authorities in solving other cases which are similar in nature( i.e if their conscience is clear & they have not already been bought by politicians or others to submiss the case or even worse close the case altogether).
3. Through reporting the instance of sexual abuse, crime victims can be eligible for the financial compensation the government will give to the victims families. Although, nothing can bring back a lost child for the grieving families or nothing can erase the mental trauma the victim will go through all her life if she survives post being raped or gang-raped, &m not to forget the social stigma families who are a victim of these crimes will face , the money received from the compensation will offer some sort of solace & offer some closure to the victim & their families.
Also, rapists are often repeat offenders. Reporting of rapes can or may help the authorities identify a pattern in the rapists behavior so that they can probably prevent such acts of inhumane behavior in the future.
Hope such acts of cruelty never happen in any part of the globe. Laws should be so strong that peole who commit such crimes should be caughr & given the harshest punishment allowed. As it is simple, people who commit such crimes should & must not be allowed to live freely in the open society.
In fact all of them irrespective of the magnitude of the crime they have committed should be sentenced to a life behind bars.
To add to their woes in counties like India, such cases are brushed aside most of them through the use of financial & political power. The victims family is quitened by force & the case goes out of public memory within a short span of time.
In India, the law of the land is so preposterous that when a juvenile in New Delhi along with four other majors gang raped & killed a young girl( The Nirbhaya case), the four people got sentenced to life imprisonment whereas the minor was sentenced to three years imprisonment as per the juvenile court as the law prevailing in India doesn't permit a Indian who is a minor to be sentenced to life imprisonment &/ or to be hanged.
As I write this, the minor has been released & sent to an NGO for rehabilitation. This raises the importance of reporting acts of sexual abuse to the police & let them be known in the public domain so that this inhuman acts reaches the ears & eyes of people who have the authority to take actions against people who commit such crimes & provide justice to the grieving families of the victims.
Also a bill called the Juvenile Justice Bill has been passed in the Rajya Sabha a few days back which reduces the age of the victims to be tried under the Juvenile court from 18 years to 16 years. Also a minimum punishment of 7 years will be given to a victim who commits such a crime and is a juvenile/minor.
The question I ask to every one who matters out there is , will this bill change the mindset of youngsters like the one who inflicted such unimaginable pain on Nirbhaya?
There are lots of cases like this one. Either make laws so strict so that people think countless number of times before committing such crimes or else we need to encourage reporting of such crimes more. Make people who go through this ordeal express themselves in such a way that they can get some solace.
Here are three main reasons why I think we should encourage people who report acts of sexual abuse:
1. Reporting an assault or crime doesnot commit a victim to pressing charges or to prosecuting the assailant. However, prompting reporting an assault helps to create the strongest case possible in the event that the victim decides to pursue criminal charges.
If they do delay reporting this act of inhuman behavior, physical evidence may become unusable, making the proscution less likely. In the event the victim decides not to report this heinous crime to the police or the authorities in charge of providing justice, then the process of collection of evidene will be completly stopped.
2. Even if criminal charges are not filed, reporting the crime provides law enforcement personnel( Police, CBI etc) with important, critical imformation including a description of the assailant & the method of committing the crime. Such given information maybe helpful for the authorities in solving other cases which are similar in nature( i.e if their conscience is clear & they have not already been bought by politicians or others to submiss the case or even worse close the case altogether).
3. Through reporting the instance of sexual abuse, crime victims can be eligible for the financial compensation the government will give to the victims families. Although, nothing can bring back a lost child for the grieving families or nothing can erase the mental trauma the victim will go through all her life if she survives post being raped or gang-raped, &m not to forget the social stigma families who are a victim of these crimes will face , the money received from the compensation will offer some sort of solace & offer some closure to the victim & their families.
Also, rapists are often repeat offenders. Reporting of rapes can or may help the authorities identify a pattern in the rapists behavior so that they can probably prevent such acts of inhumane behavior in the future.
Hope such acts of cruelty never happen in any part of the globe. Laws should be so strong that peole who commit such crimes should be caughr & given the harshest punishment allowed. As it is simple, people who commit such crimes should & must not be allowed to live freely in the open society.
In fact all of them irrespective of the magnitude of the crime they have committed should be sentenced to a life behind bars.
Very good write-up on a sensitive topic! Keep the good work going!!
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