Night of shame continues…..

The trial concluded on 9 September 2013 holding the accused guilty of, amongst other things, rape, armed dacoity and murder. They were all sentenced to death, except for the juvenile who was sent to a reformatory for three years. The verdict was, subsequently, upheld by the Delhi High Court on 13 March 2014 and the Supreme Court of India on 5 May 2017.

On 10 March 2013, Ram Singh, the prime accused, committed suicide in Tihar Jail. Until then, he was an undertrial and had been held in judicial custody. The remaining four, namely, Pawan, Vinay, Akshay and Mukesh, await hanging.

A closer look at the social background of the rapists   is revealing. They all come from more or less the same kind of social milieu. They are all migrants from the Indian countryside to the city; unskilled or at best semi- skilled; poorly educated or not educated at all; in search of employment; living on the brink of survival by doing petty jobs that give them just about enough to put some food on their tables, and ironically, money to recharge their mobile phones; they are all unmarried or separated from their families and therefore sex-starved. This class of deprived men live in cities, dazzled by the wealth they see around them—sleek cars, shiny malls, palatial homes, super de luxe hotels and, most appealing to them, young girls smartly turned out. This is not only true of the capital city but of every metropolitan city in India. At some level, we have to recognize this reality of the stark juxtaposition of the two classes and the dangers that inevitably emerge from it. Police forces in such cities, contrary to public expectation, find  it difficult to be omnipresent at all times to prevent sexual crimes by such brutes.

To be continued……