Crimes with continuity

The murder and rape of two minor girls in broad daylight in Lakhimpur Kheri hijacked their life — leaving their dreams unfulfilled, and their families — for whom they were strong pillars of support — bereaved and rudderless. The incident will most likely also serve as a deterrent to many aspiring girls of the same village, who might now find their wings clipped to feed the fear of concerning families. Ironically, however, not everything is lost in Lakhimpur Kheri! Just like scavengers find food in corpses, political parties, too, have found their stuff. Opposition parties have found an agenda to rattle the BJP during the monsoon session of the UP state legislative assembly. The ruling BJP, obviously, cannot afford to remain empty-handed; it has found its much-loved communal angle in the crime incident, as Muslims dominate the list of arrested persons. Media has found something to chew on before it can conveniently spit it out in a matter of weeks or so. For the family that is left behind to go through a life-long trauma, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to compensate for its failure by providing Rs 25 lakh in cash, a pucca house and a piece of farming land to the kins of the murdered and raped. It needs no telling that the life of the family members will never be the same. The crime has crippled the family, their small dreams and aspirations, forever. In this light, the family's demand of death sentence for the culprits may not completely be out of place. The grim reality behind the incident is gloomier and more complex than it is made to look like. The crime can be seen through multiple lenses — crime against women, crime against children, crime against Dalit and crime against the socio-economically marginalised. No, it certainly is not a mere crime against two individuals. As per the data by National Crime Records Bureau, for every one lakh women, 64.5 crimes are registered in India. Every hour, 49 crimes against women are reported in the country. The obvious caveat is that reported crimes may be far lower than actual crimes, particularly in rural areas where the tendency to reach out to police stations is abysmally low. Male chauvinism is an undeniable reality in India, and it manifests itself in multiple forms ranging from eve-teasing to domestic violence, murder and rape. Another established truth is that sexual assault is seen by many perpetrators as a tool to repress and 'punish' women. This perhaps is a time to shed the soft and rosy notion of "teaching our boys how to treat women". One cannot let an entire half of the population suffer as subjects of experimentation while male humans are on their path to enlightenment! To put a tab on gendered crimes, we desperately need stringent and time-bound punishments/deterrents. The media should stop chewing and throwing such issues, and rather cultivate the culture of regular follow-ups. Second layer of reality is the incident being a crime against two children. The elder sister, aged 17, was a school dropout while the younger (15) was the brightest kid in the family. Their two brothers — also school dropouts — are migrant workers. The younger sister, a studious one, was a ray of hope for them. The young boys now share the dual burden of looking after their sick mother and supplementing father's meagre income. The point behind elaborating this family structure is that this configuration, with slight variations and limited exceptions, can be generalised among lower-caste families in villages of UP and Bihar. Dalit boys leave the family for big cities after they are done with their matriculation or intermediate studies — chiefly for labour work. The case is different for upper caste kids — even if their families are socio-economically deprived. These vulnerable families become easy targets of people placed at higher socio-economic pedestals; and girls there are conveniently and deliberately objectified. Rape and murder are most heinous of the crimes, and are accorded strict punishment under law. Still, if culprits decide to commit these crimes — with all likelihood of being caught — there is a need to decode and classify their tendency. Apparently, it is their flawed perception of 'superiority' and socio-politically instilled sense of impunity that allows them to become monstrous. To prevent similar crimes in the future, the deterrents need to be stringent and swift enough to prevail over the sense of superiority and impunity. Lakhimpur crime reflects a deep-rooted problem that is as much social as it is political and administrative. On the political front, blame game and mudslinging is in full swing, and will likely belittle the real issues in just a matter of days. On the administrative front, despite its tall claims of women safety and intact law-and-order, the UP government appears to be failing badly. On the social front, changes in lives of women and Dalits — particularly in rural areas — are progressing at snail's pace. No sustainable solution appears in sight as of now. It is high time that India's justice system steps in by ensuring speedy justice to the family members of the victims. Judiciary can indeed be a changemaker in this regard by setting right examples. Continuous follow-up media coverage of crimes like this can also be of help to a certain extent. Crime against women, particularly sexual assault, is a persistent malaise. It needs to be addressed in continuity.