Seven years on from Nirbhaya, nothing has changed

She was there on a work-related evening assignment. But when everybody left, NS (I am using only the initials) realised that by 8.45 pm, the arterial MG Road (Mahatma Gandhi Road) in Bengaluru is not a safe place. There are deserted patches; there are spots enveloped in darkness, thanks to the ongoing construction.

NS was staying in Marathahalli then, meaning no metro connectivity either. “Both cabs and auto drivers wanted Rs 500-Rs 600,” she said. As a student careful with money, the young 20-something decided to walk.

She hoped some form of transport would turn up. A guy followed her, instead. “He came after me for some kms, telling me to go with him. I threatened to call the cops, he laughed it off because he could see there were no cops anywhere,” she said.

Eventually, NS did make it home, unscathed. “Back home, nothing like this has ever happened to me,” she said.

NS is from Durgapur, West Bengal. This is the first time she has felt so unsafe. She studies at the journalism institute where I teach. I had sent her to cover that event on MG Road to help brush up her reporting skills.

Young India speaks out

NS belongs to a generation of young, thinking Indians, who care deeply about what’s happening in our country. She and her eight classmates are a mini India in themselves. Apart from NS, there’s RM from Chennai, SD from Kolkata, SR from Bilaspur in Chhatisgarh, NT from Mumbai, PB from Faridabad near Haryana and three ‘local’ Bengalurians -- SR, HP and DP.

These young people are, like the rest of us, equally appalled, anguished and angered by the horrific rape and murder in Hyderabad. They cannot wrap their heads around the inhuman acts committed upon a young woman who happened to be out late at night, on work. “Why are women and girls treated like this in this country? Why did four seemingly ordinary-looking young men do this,” these are the questions seared into their minds. SD, one of the two boys in this nine-member group, called up his mother. “I told her not to go out, ever,” he said.

For these journalism students, it is also the callousness of the media coverage that is equally horrifying. The lack of ethics, for one thing. The manner in which local and national television channels repeatedly played CCTV clips of the young woman. Or the manner in which they have systematically stripped away her dignity and unveiled her identity. Under law, the name of a rape survivor/victim should not be disclosed in India. But now, we all know the name of the girl from Hyderabad. We’ve all seen what she looked like and we know where her family resides.

In fact, my students have also alerted me to something even more stomach-churning – the girl’s name and the words ‘rape video’ are the most searched terms across search engines. “What does that say about us, Indians,” asks RM, the Chennaiite.

Nothing has changed

Only instances and incidents that are this horrific go ‘viral’. For that is what happened seven years ago, when another unspeakably brutal assault and murder took place in Delhi.

At that time, it seemed to shake our collective conscience. The young woman who experienced those unimaginable horrors was even hailed in the media as ‘fearless’ as she clung to life. But she lost the battle and could not overcome the savagery inflicted upon her.

Then too, there was public outrage, vigils and protests. The laws will be changed, we were told. There will be stringent punishment and justice will be swifter, we were promised.

“But the punishment is not enough, justice is not swift enough,” points out HP, one of the three Bengalurians.

There are so many cases pending in the courts, is the counter to her impassioned statement. The data available is stark: According to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (the 2017 report was released in October 2019, two years late) there were 32,559 cases of rape reported in the country. As per the report, the conviction rate for rape cases in 2017 was a mere 32.2%!

Decisive action, only sometimes

Throw the data at her and HP observes that not everything moves slowly in this country. “Overnight, the government implemented demonetisation. Overnight, the government downgraded a state into a union territory. And when the nation lost soldiers in a terrorist attack, India launched a surgical strike within 10 days. We need to safeguard and honour our fallen soldiers, but don’t India’s women and children also need protection?” she wants to know.

As HP points out, decisive action is the need of the hour. The anti-rape laws are clearly no deterrent.

But one law is being enthusiastically implemented in the country. For instance, Madhya Pradesh (5599 rape cases *) and Uttar Pradesh (4669 rape cases *) are invoking the National Security Act (NSA) in cases related to cow slaughter. Other states may soon follow.

Perhaps if we are equated with cattle, India’s women and girls will get the protection and safety we deserve.

* NCRB 2017

(Divya Sreedharan has over 20 years' experience working across newspapers, magazines and digital media. She writes/blogs on gender, ageing and urban lifestyles and teaches journalism at the National School of Journalism, Bengaluru)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH