By Goutam Shankar
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So, after poll time, it is back to hole time. You may call it whole time too. I am referring to the cases of rape where the victims, dead or alive, are thrown off cars and buses near water holes.
Some refer to these holes as ponds or lakes or canals depending on how deep or wide the gashes on the ground are. As for the whole time part, incidents of rape occur round the clock irrespective of the victims� ages.
Kolkata, in this context(MANHOOD), does not stand apart but is a part of this practice ever since boys learnt to differentiate between the birds and the bees.
In Kolkata, even a 12 year old kid had been arrested a few months back in a case of attempted rape and dispatched to a juvenile home where he will remain until he becomes an adult so that when he emerges from the confines of the bars he will have gained enough intelligence to carry out such attempts successfully and go to jail meant for adult criminals � men.
The latest case of a 25 year old girl who was raped by four men in a Tata Sumo vehicle before being thrown off near a secluded waterhole in Salt Lake area has sent shivers down the spines of women who work late in the hi tech areas and have to depend on transport provided by their employers to reach home, expectedly safe.
But three of the rapists, in this case, were drivers of cars hired by the various companies of the IT hub while another, who is still absconding, was a security man. The consolation is, the Kolkata police were almost prompt in nabbing the three drivers whom the victim identified in a TI parade yesterday. Hats off to the girl who showed guts during the process of identification. The security guard has yet to be nabbed.
Though it would sound rather brutal, this incident is just one of the many that the city is, by now, well acquainted with.
Some incidents are reported and many others are not because there are more important news like a minister inaugurating a park or eulogizing a party leader, political goons bashing up their counterparts, inconsequential blah-blahs of politicians at cultural functions and the like, that need to be reported on a priorities basis.
Like most other cases of crime incidents, the Kolkata police are spot on with their follow up actions but it is impossible to hammer in the fear factor among men of criminal bent. We forget that women belong to the tribe of mothers who ought to be respected.
Any right minded man can only shudder on hearing the news of rapes while sex maniacs (mostly men) go unrestrained in a city where joy seems to be restricted to the circles of the privileged few for whom wine and women make no difference in the quantum of virtue.�
Logically or otherwise, general people or, men with sabbatical minds and tendencies, are sans manhood in them. Such mortals can only discuss these reported cases of rape at adda sessions in clubs, tea stalls and golir mathai but cannot raise their voices beyond certain mental decibels for fear of repercussions from super normal beings with para- normal mentalities.�
The views expressed are personal of the author. He can be reached at ([email protected]).