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‘Both, men and women can reach the 50th floor pushing the same lift button’

Work done in record time

Investigations into the Shakti Mills (Mumbai) rape case have been on a steady progress. Yesterday the Mumbai police even filed a chargesheet – a voluminous 600 page one. A report in the media lauds the police for its efforts.

– “A team of 12 police officers and 30 men and women of the Crime Branch has worked night and day since the date of the incident to file this chargesheet in record time of 28 days,”

A good 12 police officers and 30 other staff, that too from Crime Branch worked on this case – why? Just because it turned into a high-profile one or because a media person was the survivor? Hat’s off to the police for the quick job but my mind goes to the countless other cases that police refuse to register or if they do register, do not bother to file a chargesheet or further investigate.

Confidentiality maintained

The survivor was discharged from hospital on August 27,2013. A report said

The survivor was released late on Tuesday night but the hospital management released a statement on Wednesday to maintain the girl’s privacy. The relatives of the survivors had asked the hospital management to maintain the girl’s confidentiality.

It is good that all – the media, hospital and the police played their parts sensibly. Was it because the ‘victims’ were part of the media. Post the incident, Facebook was flooded with pleas from journalists to maintain the privacy of the survivor. Hopefully, the other victims/survivors in the future are given their share of respect too. I recall the time of the Marine Drive police chowky rape case, the media tried its best to get the address of the survivor – thankfully no one reached her residence.

Typical protests

Protests happened by political parties, public, journalists. Page 3 socialites expressed their ‘shock.’ Home Minister R Patil’s reaction to the incident was that women journalists should be accompanied by police when visiting lonely areas.

A woman journalist going to isolated places will be given protection from the local police station,” said the minister, listing out action taken by his government, battling a flood of outrage on the streets of Mumbai and across the nation.

Really, is that the answer? Do we even have police to do that with thousands of them on VIP duty everyday. Many of the socialites who spoke on the rape, travel only by cars and do not know what it is to be ‘touched’ almost on a daily basis in trains, at railway stations, in buses, market places. For political parties, it was the only a way to have a picture splashed in the newspaper because it is their MLAs who go around threatening to strip women in public.

Birth pangs

The disrespect is quite deep-rooted in India, begins sometime a female child is born. This report in an international newspaper states:

A recent study found 500,000 unborn girls were being aborted every year. A UNICEF report in 2006 revealed that 10 million girls were killed – either before they were born or immediately after – by their parents from 1986 in India.

Change, huh!

Ad film maker Prasoon Joshi says that an overall change in attitude towards women is the need of the hour. In an interview, he cites

People are shocked to see women moving freely in the city. They can’t accept the changing role of women…they are hunting sitting in front of computers and women are also doing the same. Both can reach to the 50th floor pushing the same lift button, so “manly power” is not required any more…

It is obviously a long journey to a situation of complete bliss when it comes to women safety, be it in India or elsewhere. Stricter laws, change in societal attitudes, faster police action, better politicians who know what to say when and of course mothers who will teach their sons to become good men rather than teaching their daughters to dress ‘properly’ and learn to cook and sew before anything else.

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