This is the True Story of someone ..... a fiesty, ambitious, 25 year old somone who could not suffer sloth and insincerity in work..... This is the story of a nurse who served patients to health but today lies confined to a bed in that same hospital, unable to move, unable to talk, unable to think ...... This is the story of a woman who was raped to her death and still survived to tell her tale, though none can hear it, none can understand it, none can appreciate it..... This is the story of Aruna Shanbaug, a poor lower-middle class nurse who lies comatose on a bed while time flows by, for the past 37 years while her rapist, Sohanlal was freed after spending 7 years in jails! 7 years of Jail for a crime that has cost a woman 37 years and counting!
Happy Woman's Day...... to all of you .... and I am sorry for the delay ... it seems I was unable to write in shame after reading about her yesterday.... To be frank I did not want to spoil your mood that was replete with colours of progress and what women have achieved, with grim stories of what the women have not achieved
Two days back, the case filed by Pinky Virani requesting Aruna to be administered Euthanasia was rejected by the learned Judiciary, though the Learned Judges did agree that Passive Euthanasia could be administered ..... A medical court will decide on the same... My Question is not about the merits and demerits of Euthanasia as a system, that shall be discussed some other time .... My question today is, how long will Rape continue to be the symbol of one's revenge? How long will Rape be the weapon of choice for humiliating and degrading women? How long will Society suffer silently this treatment of Womanhood and remain unaffected by it?
On the 27th of November, 1973, a young girl of 23 who was changing has dress was attacked by Sohanlal, a ward-boy, because he was tired of her berating him and warning him of dire consequences if he continued to be slack at work! Male Ego and Suppressed Sexual Anger could not take it any more and he attacked her in the dark of the night, with a dog chain ...... Since she was menstruating, he sodomized her and left her for dead.... She was not discovered till the next morning when the doctors found her lying on the floor, stripped of her clothes and dignity, cortically blind - the dog chain had asphyxiated her and she had lost all her sense and memory.
The Dean of the Hospital had Sohanlal arrested but he was arrested for 'robbery and attempted murder' .... the fact that she had been raped was not reported by the doctors for fear of stigma and that too anally.... had this been reported, Sohanlal would have received an immediate 10 years for unnatural sex (this law was in place till late 2008 and even consensual anal and oral sex could get you 10 years in prison, if reported) and 7 years for Rape..... But the curse of the 'moral stigma' stopped them in their tracks and this was never reported..... How much more longer are we going to remain silent and allow these acts of depravation to continue?
Sohanlal was found guilty and was sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment on two counts, with both continuing concurrently. Today Sohanlal is a free man, and it's learned that he is working as a ward-boy, under a new identity, in some other state...which brings us back to Aruna..... 37 years have passed by and she is still alive, surviving on the efforts of the nurses of the KEM Hospital where she worked once and was raped that night!
Clearly Justice has been denied to her.... Clearly, our country has failed her... If the murderers of Jessica Lal could be given life imprisonment for killing her, Aruna has been dying a death every second, every minute, every hour for the last 37 years ..... Why has Justice not been her saviour? Is it because she is not as connected as Sabrina Lall was or is it because we simply don't care......
Democratic India has to reply to this poor soul that could have done much more .... Who is responsible for her plight? And who will stand for her Right? It's easy to denounce the Taliban and the others .... and rightly too, for they are the shame of Humanity but how could we allow something of this sort to happen in our country and still remain silent about it?
The time is ticking..... Justice is Waiting... And Oh, Yes! Before I forget, once again 'Happy Woman's Day'
A beautiful song by Sahir.....
It's time to stand up for our women, it's time to make Rape a Capital Offence, it's time to stand against it... But is India listening?
Happy Woman's Day...... to all of you .... and I am sorry for the delay ... it seems I was unable to write in shame after reading about her yesterday.... To be frank I did not want to spoil your mood that was replete with colours of progress and what women have achieved, with grim stories of what the women have not achieved
Two days back, the case filed by Pinky Virani requesting Aruna to be administered Euthanasia was rejected by the learned Judiciary, though the Learned Judges did agree that Passive Euthanasia could be administered ..... A medical court will decide on the same... My Question is not about the merits and demerits of Euthanasia as a system, that shall be discussed some other time .... My question today is, how long will Rape continue to be the symbol of one's revenge? How long will Rape be the weapon of choice for humiliating and degrading women? How long will Society suffer silently this treatment of Womanhood and remain unaffected by it?
On the 27th of November, 1973, a young girl of 23 who was changing has dress was attacked by Sohanlal, a ward-boy, because he was tired of her berating him and warning him of dire consequences if he continued to be slack at work! Male Ego and Suppressed Sexual Anger could not take it any more and he attacked her in the dark of the night, with a dog chain ...... Since she was menstruating, he sodomized her and left her for dead.... She was not discovered till the next morning when the doctors found her lying on the floor, stripped of her clothes and dignity, cortically blind - the dog chain had asphyxiated her and she had lost all her sense and memory.
The Dean of the Hospital had Sohanlal arrested but he was arrested for 'robbery and attempted murder' .... the fact that she had been raped was not reported by the doctors for fear of stigma and that too anally.... had this been reported, Sohanlal would have received an immediate 10 years for unnatural sex (this law was in place till late 2008 and even consensual anal and oral sex could get you 10 years in prison, if reported) and 7 years for Rape..... But the curse of the 'moral stigma' stopped them in their tracks and this was never reported..... How much more longer are we going to remain silent and allow these acts of depravation to continue?
Sohanlal was found guilty and was sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment on two counts, with both continuing concurrently. Today Sohanlal is a free man, and it's learned that he is working as a ward-boy, under a new identity, in some other state...which brings us back to Aruna..... 37 years have passed by and she is still alive, surviving on the efforts of the nurses of the KEM Hospital where she worked once and was raped that night!
Clearly Justice has been denied to her.... Clearly, our country has failed her... If the murderers of Jessica Lal could be given life imprisonment for killing her, Aruna has been dying a death every second, every minute, every hour for the last 37 years ..... Why has Justice not been her saviour? Is it because she is not as connected as Sabrina Lall was or is it because we simply don't care......
Democratic India has to reply to this poor soul that could have done much more .... Who is responsible for her plight? And who will stand for her Right? It's easy to denounce the Taliban and the others .... and rightly too, for they are the shame of Humanity but how could we allow something of this sort to happen in our country and still remain silent about it?
The time is ticking..... Justice is Waiting... And Oh, Yes! Before I forget, once again 'Happy Woman's Day'
A beautiful song by Sahir.....
Madad Chaahti Hai Ye Hawwa Ki Beti
Yashodha Ki Hum-Jins, Radha Ki Beti
Mohammed Ki Ummah, Zulaikha Ki Beti
Jinhein Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahaan Hai.....?
The Capital of India, Delhi is also known as the Rape Capital of India, it's said every 15 minutes a woman is raped in Delhi.... How long are we going to allow it to continue?(Help is the request of Eve's DaugherYashoda's Gender, Radha's DaughterMohammed's Mother, Zulaikha's DaughterWhere are they who pride on India?)
It's time to stand up for our women, it's time to make Rape a Capital Offence, it's time to stand against it... But is India listening?
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