How secure are our women?

In the King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital overseeing the plush suburb of Parel, Mumbai lies the mighty Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse by profession, in an irreversible and incurable permanent vegetative state (PVS), relentlessly waiting since the past 40 years for a decree from the Supreme Court of India to let her die peacefully through euthanasia. She begs the apex court for a dime of mercy to liberate her from the chains of this perpetual inferno, into which she was unwillingly thrown by a merciless satanic creature amongst us on a fateful night of November, the 27^th of 1973. She valiantly battles with the living hell with a fervent hope that someday her soul will finally be put to rest.

Roughly four decades later, on December, the 16^th 2012 a 23-year old brave heart pseudo-named Nirbhaya, one that she was, lost her battle with life and succumbed to the grievous injuries inflicted by a brutal and bestial sexual assault by six demons of the same species as ours. She fought till that day, and even after that. And she continues to do so for her fellow country women- be it mother, sister, wife, grand-daughter, niece, friend, classmate, blood-relative and who is mercilessly beaten, bartered, assaulted, kicked, exploited, harassed, stalked, voyeured, burnt, teased, acid attacked and trafficked irrespective of caste, creed, religion, ethnicity, and colour at home, workplace, buses, trains, temples, ashrams, in-laws place, parks, hotels, hostels, hospitals and every place possible.

India has a mythical tradition of worshipping the female deities. We bow our heads in reverence and pay our obeisance to Her and who, like a true mother, blesses us with well-being. But even She, probably, was helpless that day when a Nirbhaya was being assaulted, a hapless Aruna Shanbaug was being chained and sodomized and a Mumbai-based photo journalist was being pounced upon and de-chastitized.

And when the Goddess herself is helpless from being stolen or vandalized, what can we, as mere mortals, do? Except as a nation of people who have destined to govern ourselves by a class of spineless critters occupying legislature that is served by an emasculated bureaucracy and overlooked by a crippled judiciary, ashamed and penitent, we can, albeit, hang our head low in remembrance of this crucifixion of humanity and a flagrant massacre of morals for a few seconds. This is all we can do!

While the political and bureaucratic class is busy churning out mindless and toothless laws that have more loopholes and patches than any expressway or national highways in this country has, it is the bounden duty and responsibility of the judiciary, as a custodian of human rights, to regain the trust of aam aurat that her security and chastity would be protected and taken care of at all times and at all places. That she will be shielded from all the physical, mental, sexual, psychological, economical, social and intellectual abuses being bombarded upon her from all the directions. A guarantee that she would be meted out honour and respect and breathe a sigh of relief when she walks through our testosterone-charged oestrogen starved society.

As citizens of this country, we’re bound to respect and abide by the law of the land. But we are not some country of fools where lynch-mob justice should be meted out or public executions or emasculations should be rule of the book. It doesn’t either imply that we sit with our hands folded while such grave crimes continue being perpetrated against our women. So, as good citizens we approach the courts, anxiously prepare for the date of the trial with all crucial evidence, patiently wait for the verdict to be pronounced and then woefully defend ourselves in a higher court which threatens to stay or halt the execution of judgement of a lower court and the story continues.

Almost all the cases handled by today’s courts are pending judgement or waiting to be heard. The grossly understaffed judiciary is already over-burdened with the burgeoning civil and criminal litigations crippled by botched-up investigations and presentation of fabricated and non-sense evidence that only delays the due procedure.

The black-robe brethren proudly defend this inordinate delay by claiming, “Handing out verdicts promptly is easier said than done. Our judicial system is based on the presumption that a person is innocent until proven guilty. This is how it works. Verdicts are not whimsical but carefully calibrated and weighed by erudite and learned jurists keeping in mind the possible repercussions of the verdict on the intricate social fabric of our country.” If you fidget any further, they’ll boldly trumpet “Bhagwaan ke ghar me der hai, andher nahi” (In the house of god, justice is delayed, but not denied.) So, observe patience and keep paying our hefty fee so that we continue with our court-room battles for the accused and the victim alike!

Indian legal framework provides a unique opportunity to all the litigants- the right to appeal and review of the verdict to right the wrong, if it affects either the aggrieved or the defendant. This was done keeping in mind that an innocent saved is worth a hundred criminals left scot-free. This has now become an alibi for all those convicted of grave sexual offences against women in lower/trial/fast track courts. The criminals are left with almost 4-5 appeals and review petitions permissible in the High Courts and Supreme Court before a single judge bench or division bench or even a constitutional bench (only in case of SC monitored cases) before applying for presidential pardon that brings the execution, in case of rarest of the rare crimes, to a screeching halt. Even if the Presidential clemency is rejected, it can be stopped from execution by challenging the rejection in the apex court where matters are taken up at snail pace owing to the huge number of cases of national and international significance that are waiting to be adjudicated since aeons.

It is this inherent disability in our justice delivery system that has been traditionally overlooked. As the time lag between adjudication and execution protracts, so do the depths of the wounds of the victim and her family who suffer economically and psychologically besides feeling socially alienated and morally degraded by the judiciary of their own country which is expected to fill the vacuum of social apathy by righting the historical wrong. In doing so, it not only upholds the dignity of human values but also reinstates the faith of a woman on the principles of equality, liberty and fraternity that our forefathers bestowed upon everyone alike while drafting the constitution.

It is expected that wherever possible and whenever possible, I, or in fact anybody shall raise a voice at appropriate forum where we can suggest that

    1. The number of chances available for convicts to appeal for review of sentence in the higher courts should be limited to say a maximum of 2 with special benches constituted to dispose-off the review petitions at a speedy pace in both the High Courts and apex court within a specified time, in grave crimes related to sexual offences against women. 

    2. Also, benches of Supreme Court could be established in Southern and Eastern parts of India so that the labour involved in travelling and time required for adjudication can be greatly minimised facilitating prompt delivery of qualitative justice.

At least this can ensure that a few women left untouched and those that are yet to come into this world can live a life of dignity and honour and respect in a country as ours where our holy scriptures proudly proclaim:

“Gods reside where women are honoured.”