In Retrospect: Rape Incident in Delhi

The recent Delhi gang rape sparked a worldwide curiosity and still making headlines until now. I'm not creating this blog entry to take advantage of the demise of a promising young woman and increase the traffic to my blogsite. It's just that I happened to read an article  which is rather infuriating and I want to use my site to vent out my frustration in light of that incident. 

Whenever I get to watch or read the worldwide news it always breaks my heart to read or hear stories about rape cases, boys and girls alike. It's a truly horrible crime not anything less than murder even if the victims were allowed to live or happened to survived the ordeal. I have encountered rape victims in some of my volunteer projects and the trauma that they are going through is something I wouldn't want to wish or even witness on anyone. Being a woman myself, especially since I like to go hang out on bars and clubs with my friends, I can't help but be concern about my own safety whenever I go out. Rape incidents happen everywhere and this is also an issue within my own country and when I read that an uncle or even a father raped his own child I can't help but squirm and wonder whatever the hell is happening in our world. 

Then recently while reading the news over the net I came upon this article at yahoo.com about a supposedly godman from India, Asharam or Bapu as his followers call him, released a video footage stating that "This tragedy would not have happened if she had chanted God's name and fallen at the feet of the attackers. The error was not committed by just one side." I've also read some articles where some conservative people (and I daresay, narrow minded people) lay the blame on the girl and her family for their none traditional practices. 

"What the f*ck?! Like f*cking seriously?!" Did that supposedly godman or does anyone think that a lady raised decently by her family who also happened to be struggling to finish a degree would like to encounter a bunch of lust driven, animals  (yes, I think they don't deserve to be called humans at all) and be gang raped? I wouldn't have much idea about the tradition in India or how families or ladies are supposed to behave in their society but to blame a girl who is not even at the least bit prostituting herself for getting raped is just plain wrong and twisted. I also think that to be blame for getting raped because you're not following the tradition is wrong in all levels. 

Everyone has the right to follow a path regardless of his and her cultural roots and I don't think that the value of a person should diminish just because he or she decided to believe and practice something else. Women worldwide had always been struggling to assert their right and to be treated accordingly and everyday I see stories of oppression and harassment. Why is it that when a girl flaunt her skin she is already a target for harassment but a guy could show off his body and manly parts and expect people to be amazed?! There goes the double standards, huh? 

A girl had been raped and suffered and she died eventually and these people are blaming her for not praying and for her actions which are not totally questionable. Did Asharam really think that those men would leave her alone if she got down on her knees and prayed fervently?? If they have any respect at all for whatever religious practices they have kr whatever god they are worshipping, they would not even contemplate to do something like this. 

Looking into this, it's a little depressing and its also disturbing to think that we now generally live in a society wherein something that is obviously morally wrong is getting justified by some twisted and illogical reasoning. What's even worse is that these people would shove their convoluted ideas down your throats and force you to swallow them. Whatever happened to being humane? How can we forget about compassion, empathy and understanding? We just go out there and impose on other people what we think is morally right and what we think is culturally right. 

With all the technological advancements going on, one is inclined to think that we are also moving forward with our reasoning, that with all the technical savviness going on, our values will become more refined. Sadly though, it seems like a lot of people are still buried with their backward and prehistoric beliefs and actions. There are values and beliefs that should be upheld but there are those that ought to be re-examined or best, left forgotten. 

Also, how can we claim to be human when we act like savages no better than the animals in the wild. If we truly have better intellectual capacity, how come we let our drives and emotions get the best of us? How can we not even try to be more in touch with our humane side and be more logical in our actions? This woman and her companion is not just a victim of sexual assault and harassment, they are also victims of a society where violence and greed is running rampant masked by a supposedly, socially acceptable cultural practice.

“In real life during the last decade of the twentieth century, Rumpelstiltskin would probably get the queen's daughter. He would no doubt addict her to heroin, turn her out as a prostitute, confiscate her earnings, beat her for pleasure, hack her to pieces, and escape justice by claiming that society's intolerance for bad-tempered, evil-minded trolls had driven him temporarily insane.”  Dean Koontz