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The Juvenile- If released, will fail India

It was a cool winter day in Kolkata and I was then pursuing my graduation in journalism. As a result of my subject, I had an obvious inclination towards news. Political news always used to intrigue me. The subtleties, the nuances, the crests and troughs of the beat used to grab my attention no ends, however, the other beats could never complain about my lack of interest towards them (except sport).

It was 2012 December. I can forget the whole year but like many in the country, I cannot forget December 16, the day that changed a lot. It is shameful that if someone asks us to relate to this day, our minds automatically connect the date to no personality's birthday but to the most gruesome incident of 21st Century- Nirhaya Rape Case.

It was the social media outcry that led to the mediation of the incident. I do not wish to narrate the incident as it is, I am sure, engraved in every Indian's mind. India woke up after that day, the youth of the country spoke up and outrightly portrayed their anger through the social media platforms. But that was not all. The fight of the young generation was taken to the streets all across the nation. Candle light marches, silent marches, angry protests and countless Facebook posts, all for one incident? The answer is NO.

If one quietly contemplates, then the silent death of Nirbhaya gave voice to several women across India. On the other hand, one Nirbhaya incident gave rise to the reportage of similar incidents. Will it be true to say that there were no rapes in India prior to the December 16 incident? I don't think so. The very incident gave the women of India the chivalry to rise up against such animals.

Very soon the 'juvenile' is likely to be set free. However, several bodies, the intelligentsia, the youth of India are contemplating over the release of this 'juvenile' whose actions speak differently of his age.

A quick reminder-This juvenile, who was just a few days away from turning into an adult, was the most heinous of all. He was the one who, to silence Nirbhaya/Damini, inserted the iron rod inside her body. He was the one who had planned the whole affair.

I understand that the law needs to take its own course and I am no exponent of the subject but what about the crores of Indians who relentlessly protested against the incident? What about the spirit of those who wanted nothing less than death sentence to be awarded to the juvenile at least? Keep aside law for a moment and will our conscience not tell us that the demand is pretty justified?

Human rights activists are of the opinion that juveniles should not be given harsh punishments. But I ask them, would you have said the same thing had Nirbhaya been your daughter, sister or wife?

Your counter is right that the fear about the juvenile committing yet another heinous crime after his release is presumptuous but what about the fact that the juvenile has no remorse? He is now a big child, if that suits you but has no remorse, repentance whatsoever. In fact, I guess only the one who had committed suicide was the one who had some amount of shame in him and felt the guilt within him killing him every moment. I am in no way, however, trying to glorify that man as he too was a part of the criminals.

I just have one message for the activists. If the juvenile is released then the country in whole will fail. Fail in the eyes of the youth of India, fail in the eyes of those awaiting justice and fail in the eyes of the world outside India. For such crimes the law needs to be amended, no matter how hard or near impossible it is. This is a concern I show as a layman, a common citizen of India.

Do we see any change in the attitude of rapists all across? Every person knows that the rape laws have been tightened now and punishments are severe. However, no change is seen in the scenario. A contemporary of mine during my days in the Indian Institute of Mass Communication had once told me- "It's not about the severity of the punishment but the surety of punishment." I am sorry to say, I don't see any of the two in the Indian law when it comes to dealing with such cases.


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