Within a span of little over three weeks, Arunachal Pradesh has witnessed three rape incidents and all the victims have been minor girls. This is almost unprecedented in the socio-cultural history of the state and the extent of anguish and sense of fear among the parents of girl children is palpable. Moral degradation of an extreme level that propels one to commit such despicable acts has already been a phenomenon across the country and the pride that Arunachal has been possessing for long that here it’s unlike the national ways seems to be losing gravity. It’s painful enough to even imagine the traumatized faces of the victims and the extreme helplessness and agony their families are subjected to. While the hue and cry now noticeable across the state with citizens demanding justice for the victims is natural, the term ‘justice’ and the meaning it conveys under the social and legal prisms needs a review. A few lakhs or thousands of rupees to the victim and a couple of years of jail for the culprit can never be called real justice. The law-making as well as law-enforcing authorities of the country must have to think now that these are not enough and redraw the punishment delivery mechanism.

The telling commonality in the recent cases that have shaken the state is that the crimes have been committed by persons known to the victims from whom they never expected such behavior. How could the victims, all in their early teens gauge that a school principal or an assistant engineer could subject them to such excruciating suffering. But it’s true and an unsettling development emerging on the overall crime scenario in the country as corroborated by the National Crime Records Bureau in its latest report published in September end this year. It said that in 94.2 % of rape cases, the accused was known to the victim! There is no point either in appealing to the conscience of the ‘prospective offenders’ and the only way is to make the punishment provisions more harsh. While the common citizens usually look forward to the judgements of courts with the singular expectation they will be severe to the degree in consonance with the sufferings the victim(s) have undergone, it mustn’t be forgotten that a whole lot depends on the ‘quality’ of charge sheets. Even if the laws are getting stronger, it’s an undeniable fact that there remains the evasion routes through bails. The role of police and investigating agencies is thus of huge importance where the central objective must be to frame charges in a bail-proof manner. Maharashtra is perhaps the first state in the country to show the desired pro-activeness by presenting a draft bill (Shakti Act, 2020) aiming to make changes to the existing laws on violence against women and children where a key feature is death penalty for rape. That’s the way it should be.

It can only be wished such things never occur in Arunachal. But, very harsh punishments in all the current cases need to be delivered to ensure the wish is fulfilled. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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