TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT AND CASTE BASED VIOLENCE
Written By: Srijaa Chatterjee
Edited By: Akrit Aggarwal
Designed by: Lavanya Guha and Aradhya Poddar
The Hathras rape case has turned the entire country upside down, bringing turmoil to aspects of Indian society that were previously accepted without question. As the investigation brings new information to light, India is beginning to rebel against its own rigid, discriminative societal standards. While young voices are utilizing their social media platforms, media houses have been largely absent, focusing on celebrity scandals rather than the issue at hand.
The horrific gangrape of the nineteen-year-old Dalit woman was covered up by Uttar Pradesh’s policemen - who held a cremation in the dead of night whilst the family was locked up to get rid of the evidence.
Anti-caste and Dalit gender activists have jumped at ‘an opportunity’ to raise their voices against the attempt to pass it off as just another matter of gender violence.
Discriminatory and degrading treatment of over 165 million people in India has been justified on the basis of caste. Viewed as hereditary, it cruelly condemns people to a particular social status, determining others’ behavior towards them for the rest of their lives. Numbers provided by the National Crimes Record Bureau regarding this hierarchical system chillingly display the inhuman manner in which lower castes are treated. The abolishment of untouchability in 2016 did not change the mindset of people in urban areas - the so-called ‘upper caste’. How can revolutionary change be expected in rural regions?
Parallels form between the Hathras gangrape and the brutal Nirbhaya rape that occurred in 2012. It took 8 years for the Indian justice system to resolve the Nirbhaya case, whereas Rhea Chakraborty’s drug case took a mere 8 days and sparked outrage throughout the nation. The efforts of Uttar Pradesh’s police force to cover up the rape and their original registration of the case as attempted murder further invites questions over the reliability of the Indian government, as well as the trustworthiness of the media in offering accurate, unbiased news to citizens.
It took a vicious rape and death to finally draw attention to the growing problem of gender discrimination, which (when coupled with caste discrimination) creates an agonizing, unbearable atmosphere for lower-caste females. Though India has always seen women as inferior to men and as objects for their pleasure, it is only now that its extent is being discussed openly, especially within the newer generations. Education is an important aspect that is sorely missed, and conservative mentalities concentrate on keeping their daughters inside rather than teaching men about the importance of respect. While some called out the selective incident, others took to Twitter to collectively tweet “Say Her Name” followed by the victim’s name. It may be noted that it is illegal to reveal the name of a sexual assault or rape survivor under the Penal Code, and in a twisted turn of events, the media took it to heart and chose to keep the entire incident out of the news.
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