She asked for it!

The girl is doing this just for money!

These aren’t any dialogues from a movie script. Neither are they comments by some random friends sitting in a pub and talking about the rapes in the society. They are the comments of some of the top police officers in and around NCR (Noida, Gurgaon etc.) recorded by the Tehelka Newspaper during a sting operation sometime last month. Does it come as a shock? Or is it a surprise? Or are you disgusted? But then there are some who really feel that this is totally expected from the guardians of our laws.

It is said that one shouldn’t generalize the views of a few. They say that these are ‘individual’ views of a few policemen and it’s not the case with the entire police force. But then can a policeman voice his / her own views in the media? Doesn’t he have a responsibility to the population of a country at large? This just means every politician and authority in this country can say what they want, when they want and how they want and finally escape by saying that it was their personal opinion and nothing else!

Coming to the point, 414 rapes were reported in the NCR region in 2010. But out of this the conviction rate was just a mere 34%. But then does anyone bother? When there are policemen who can name a girl who was gang-raped which is criminal according to the Indian Penal Code, when there are policemen who make rules like women shouldn’t work after 8pm, when there are policemen who say that women from the North East would surely be involved in the flesh trade, when there are policemen who believe if a woman has consensual sex with a man shouldn’t have a problem if other men join in, Why then would anyone report a case to them?

A police force with a 19th century mindset for a country which claims to be one of the fastest developing on the planet is a blot on everyone’s face. The irony is that whatever the situation, the girl has to be blamed for all that is caused to her. How dare the girl wear a blouse with a plunging neckline? Doesn’t she have any manners? How dare she roam around after 8pm? Obviously all the rapists move about after that time as our law guardians have made us believe. How dare girls work in unconventional jobs? They better move around in burkhas all the time. Who knows when a rapist can see them? In the end its just plain simple – NO RAPE CAN HAPPEN WITHOUT THE GIRLS PROVOCATION!

Ironically, the end point is the fact that most of them think all this is consensual. There’s no rape at all. There’s no case at all. Obviously if the girl is provocating a guy, why would they even bother to investigate the case? And it’s all for money. For the poor, they want easy and fast money. For the rich and high class, it’s a way to lose yourself to the riches of life.

But then doesn’t this post look entirely one sided? How can I blame the police for everything? They are still part of the society at large, right? And obviously so many in the society have such views, don’t they? And obviously the entire police force can’t be that bad, right?

But aren’t they the ones who have taken the cudgels to keep us safe? Isn’t it their duty to investigate any crime without any regional, religious, gender bias? Shouldn’t their role also include making us feel safe when we are feeling terrorized, of making us feel relieved in the hope that we will get justice for the wrong done to us, of ensuring we go to sleep without any problems every night? Why is it that the statistics say only 414 rapes in Delhi in 2010? Do we really think only these many rapes occurred? Why are women scared to report such cases? Why do they always fear going to a police station alone?

Some say better training is required. Some say sensitization is required. But these are policemen who have been there for more than 10-20-30 years. If there are still not sensitized, wonder when will they be! The men in uniform seem to have all the reasons to blame women. But ironically they don’t feel that better policing and higher conviction rates can instill fear in the minds of the criminals. Oh sorry! I forgot. It’s not rape but a business after all!

And sadly but surely this has become a way of life in NCR. You and I can only wonder what must be the situation in the hinterlands of this country.

And every time a case of rape comes across, all a policemen can say “She asked for it!”