society should have ‘zero tolerance’ for such a brutal crime.“Those who behaved like animals with my daughter have been given the right punishment,”the mother of the victim said after the court ruling even as there was thunderous applause in the court when the verdict was being delivered.

However,predictably the four accused-turned-convicts were sobbing.“In fact,they were wailing inconsolably even while they were being brought to the court (on the verdict day),”the defence lawyer A P Singh told Eastern Panorama.Singh has also sparked off a major controversy with his angry remarks that the verdict was ‘politically motivated’ and suggesting that the court had gone with the immense public mood and general political consensus that the guilty be served the death sentence.

The brutal gang rape of the 23-year-medico student on a moving bus had sparked angry outbursts across the country especially in Delhi with parliamentarians and protestors demanding the death penalty for those responsible.

The Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde welcomed the verdict saying that the end of trial in 9 months talks about the efficacy of the Delhi police and also that justice has been given to the ill-fated victim who had died in a Singapore hospital on December 29th,2012,13 days after the gruesome incident.

Public prosecutor D Krishnan too welcomed the verdict and said that the four accused were charged on 13 counts including rape,murder,kidnapping of the victim and destroying evidence.

However,the defence lawyer A P Singh told reporters outside the court that,“it was not a fair trial” and that he would challenge the order in a higher court.“This was a politically motivated judgement.We will challenge the court order in a higher court in all sincerityand with stronger evidence.These four accused were not on the spot or in the bus in which the offence allegedly took place,”Singh said.

He said that the court order only reflects the public mood and it is a case of delivering a judgement with political motives “to cool the public temper”.“It was bad in law.Our clients (accused) did neither have the people’s support nor money,”he said.

The court said the details of the case in which the four men and two others were accused of raping and violating the victim with a steel pipe should be treated as the ‘rarest of the rare’ situations that warranted the death sentence.

The defence lawyer claimed that accused Vinay was in a music function when the incident took place,similarly Akshay had left Delhi and was in his village.“I had submitted authentic video footage but I am sorry to say that nothing convinced the court,”he said.

Among the six accused,one juvenile suspect,who was 17 at the time of the attack,was served with a three year remand stay in August.The sixth accused Ram Singh,considered one of the chief players and the alleged ringleader in the gang rape,reportedly hung himself in prison in March.

Predictably the family of the victim was appalled by the three year remand served to the‘juvenile accused’.The father said he was “shocked”by the lenient punishment given to the youngest of the accused who has been depicted as the cruelest of the six men.

Even the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha,Sushma Swaraj has termed the sentence to the juvenile as “insufficient”.The meager punishment of three years does not do justice to the victim,the senior BJP leader said while the girl’s mother said,“this is no punishment”.“The only thought that has kept me sane was that the accused will be hanged,”the sobbing mother remarked.

The savagery of the alleged rape resulted in an uproar in parliament with several women lawmakers including actress Jaya Bachchan sobbing and ultimately forcing the government of India to bring changes in the anti-rape law.Prominent former woman police officer,and ex-DGP,Mizoram,Kiran Bedi justified the “severest of punishment….the death penalty”.Marxist politician Brinda Karat said that the “open and shut’ case and its trial is an eye opener on the lengthy legal system in the country.C Nilanjana,a women right activist welcomed the verdict.

The defence lawyer,however,stuck a defiant note saying that the death sentence on his four clients would not put a stop to rape and murder in Delhi or elsewhere in the country.“If the sentence brings an end to rape and murder,I will not pursue the case further.Otherwise,the verdict will be challenged in the high court,”he said.

In the wake of widespread media outrage over the verdict for the juvenile,the Congress party-led government moved quickly to justify the decision.“I am aware that people are demanding a stringent punishment but that can only happen if the laws are changed,”said Union Minister of State for Home RPN Singh.“Government cannot function with anger,it can only function according to law.At least we know that the juvenile was given the maximum punishment under juvenile law,”he added.

Rights activists also acknowledged the primacy of the law in the case.“I understand the general sense of anguish.But we have to appreciate the decision because the juvenile should be given a chance to turn into a good human being,”said Kavita Srivastava,general secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties.

A staggeringly high 48,338 child rape cases was recorded from 2001 to 2011.India has also seen an increase of 336 per cent of child rape cases from 2,113 cases in 2001 to 7,112 cases in 2011.The officials in the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare have blamed the surge in rape cases on the lopsided sexual demographic in Haryana where there are just 877 women to every 1,000 men following years of infanticide and abortions.Similar declining sex ratio is reported from Punjab also.

Despite efforts to move swiftly in rape cases to deter would-be offenders,including the establishment of fast track courts,several more cases have been filed in recent months.Parliamentarian Shailendra Kumar of the Samajwadi party said that new and existing legal channels seem to have done little to deter potential offenders.“We had a gang rape of a Mumbai photojournalist when she was out on assignment.Even a woman was raped in Jharkhand,there is no fear of law,”he said referring to a 23-year-old woman attacked while photographing an abandoned factory in Mumbai and other such incidents.

Leftist leader Gurudas Dasgupta of CPI agrees and said,“Even on August 31st,when the juvenile was sentenced,four men including two police officers were arrested for gang raping a woman in Noida on the outskirts of Delhi.”

In fact,another testimony to the menace came to the fore on September 17th when a 12-year-old minor was gang raped in Hatigaon area of Guwahati.The five accused are said to be between the age group 12 and 16 and have been described as acquaintances of the girl and it was reported that they used to play together.The unfortunate incident took place near her home when her mother was out of the house on work as a daily wage earner.

Factoring the Factors Responsible!!

There are a plethora of factors responsible for the increase of rape cases in India especially against minors,say social scientists even as experts say this is seen as one of India’s most common crimes against women.New Delhi has the highest number of rape reports among Indian cities and according to the National Crime Records Bureau,24,206 rape cases were registered in India in 2011,although there would be numerous instances of unreported cases too.

Outraged by the rape incidents, trade union CITU, owning allegiance to the Communist Party of India (Marxists) has demanded “sharp curtailment” of police personnel earmarked for security for VIPs in Delhi.They demanded the arrest of policemen who were lax in dealing with a case of rape of a five year old girl in North Delhi.In a statement,CITU General Secretary Tapan Sen said they were shocked by the horrific rape and brutal assault on the girl and “inaction” by the police when her father,a poor labourer,went to report about her disappearance.This highlights “the total indifference and hostility”shown by police to complaints from the poorer sections of society.

“It is not just sexual satisfaction,but also the pleasure of seeing the victim in pain which motivates the rapist while committing such a heinous act of violence,”says Dr R K Gupta,a medico.

It is not just sexual satisfaction,but also the pleasure of seeing the victim in pain which motivates the rapist while committing such a heinous act of violence,”says Dr R K Gupta,a medico.

Interestingly,social workers say the demanding social situation is keeping a large section of ‘Indian males’ frustrated.“Interacting with some of the accused often has revealed in the past that there is a widening gap between two genders.A misplaced women empowerment and other privileges have left the men anguished.The distorted focus for empowering only women have left men behind seething in anger.That’s why they often vent that grievance mainly against minors,”says Kaveri Mahapatra.

Till now, there is focus mainly on punishing the offender.It is in this context,only on March 21st,2013,Indian Parliament had passed a sweeping new law to protect women against sexual violence,giving courts the power to hand down the death penalty for rape that leads to the victim’s death.Repeat offenders also risk a death sentence under the new law.

The social media,new technology and entertainment industries are also being blamed.People often complain that the item numbers ‘Shila ki jawani’ or ‘Dekhta hae kya’ etc are too suggestive and could lead or excite an oppressor’s mind.Citing some studies conducted in the west,social workers also say that gang rape not only gives sadistic pleasure but has also become a sort of favourite pastime of ‘sexual predators’.They often video it on their cell phones and send out videos and images to friends.Reportedly there is also the involvement of money.

Swati Deb