Most of the people in our country have been celebrating the encounter of four accused in the infamous Hyderabad Rape Case. There is an environment of festivities and Media houses are in a race to boost their TRP as always. But, to me, this situation is really creating a state of confusion. I see it as a failure of our constitutional structure. So, I decided to analyze this from both perspectives to deal with this state of restlessness.
Let us first analyze what should have been the legal course of action in the case. There should have been a proper inquiry of whether the arrested people are the real culprits. We have seen many a time that Police frame false cases on people as they face huge political and societal pressure after such incidents. A proper judicial process could have helped in checking for such misdeeds as well as some other errors. As of now, there should be a proper inquiry against the officials involved in the encounter. On this birth anniversary on Dr. Ambedkar, we should offer him a tribute by showing a belief in the constitution framed by Baba Saheb.
Now, let us focus on the societal and emotional aspect of the issue. We have seen that there has been an increase in the number of rape cases and other crimes against women. This leads to distrust and disagreement with the system among general public. People started losing trust in our Judicial process. This seems right after noticing the average amount of time a rape case takes to conclude in our country. Because of this, people wanted some filmy sort of arrangement where the accused are punished on the spot. This most loved arrangement can lead to serious consequences. We are already facing some serious issues of mob lynching on false motives. If we start promoting such ideas of public dealing with the accused, there will be anarchy spread throughout the geographies of our country. You will agree with me when I claim that such methods will be wrongly used by certain political as well as religious groups. This fascinating “direct action” policy is certainly not a solution to the issue.
Human civilization has adapted this Judicial system of convicting and punishing people over thousands of years. There must have been certain major advantages attached to it. We are at far more peace when we compare to ancient times. Most of the credit goes to our judicial system as well as the democratic outlook evolved over time. We need to build upon this existing structure to make it more effective instead of going for some other alternatives. Our courts need to introspect and come out with a solution to deal with rape cases and other heinous crimes against women.
Apart from that, there should have been a complete overhaul of the Policing infrastructure which lacks commitment towards a rape free society. Policing being a state subject, onus lies on the respective state governments to make these reforms. In addition to that, the central government can come up with more stringent laws and work in synergy with state governments to implement them effectively. As has been rightly said that a murderer destroys the body but a rapist destroys the very soul, we should come up with a really strong deterrence which we have failed till now.
Being a part of the society, we must also understand our duties clearly. Protesting on streets and praising such direct actions are surely not making any good. Even you can be lynched by public on certain false accusations in near future and there will no trials to prove you innocent. Instead of relying on such steps you should focus on certain feasible and peaceful solutions. We as a society can infuse morals into our society and it should also be a part of our school curriculum. It has been rightly pointed out by our Prime minister that there is a need to focus on our sons and monitoring their activities. Clearly, a stricter law can be an effective deterrent but this role of ours in inculcating morals is surely a good precaution.
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