(Life) Rape in a Metro

Four days ago, a 23-year-old paramedic student was gang-raped. She and her male friend had gone to watch ‘The Life of Pi’ at a well-known cinema in an affluent part of the city. Then, they decided to take the bus ride home. Instead of waiting for a public bus, they boarded a private chartered bus. Over the next hour, six men raped the woman, beat her friend and then left them on the side of a freeway.

This horrific incident happened in the commercial hub of the capital city of the self-proclaimed next economic super power- New Delhi… and they say that Bihar is a lawless land.

I wanted to know more about that 23 year old paramedic student. But once I read the following statement by his doctor, I couldn’t gather the courage to read any further:

"It appears to be that a rod was inserted into her and it was pulled out with so much force that the act brought out her intestines along. That is probably the only thing that explains such severe damage to her intestines," he said.

She was abused so horrifically that her intestines had to be removed. If she survives, she will spend the rest of her life being fed intravenously. As far as those six culprits were concerned, after the incident they went back to their normal lives, as if nothing had happened. They didn’t even bother to hide. They had so much confidence in our police and judiciary that they knew nothing would happen. Interestingly they weren’t the spoiled brats of any politician or rich businessmen, no. All six, who committed this heinous crime, were lower middle class people. My point is- we were used to live in a society were rich and powerful were always above the law, but now even a regular sabziwala(vegetable vendor) & a bus driver, thinks that he can get away with the crime. Is this the society we are building for our children’s? Is this the future of a prosperous India?

                The men who think from between their legs and commit violent crimes should be punished severely. Capital punishment, although extreme, will be an easy escape for these culprits. An example has to be made out of them. But I know that nothing is going to change the rigid, out dated, bureaucratic Indian judiciary. Of course these individuals will be put behind bars, but should that be the end of this horrific incident? How many more victims does a nation need to take initiatives to start building a safer, better society for our women?

                The Mayan prophecy of the ‘End of the World’ did came true for that 23 year old paramedic student, for the world that she had known before boarding that bus on that fateful night is shattered and destroyed.