"Indian Penal Code"

“A woman's guess is much more accurate than a man's certainty” Rudyard Kipling.

Good morning! 

I was thinking of writing about movies and music with the weekend approaching. But I had to change my mind when I read the news of 14 years old girl raped by his teacher in Bhandara, Maharashtra. The rape incident happened inside the school premises. I’m very saddened and appalled by the act of the teacher on his students who revered him. I really don’t know “what’s wrong with this people?” Do they really deserve to live among us?

With the recent controversy surrounding the documentary film “India’s Daughter”, it has brought us to our attention again the government does not really care about rape issue and its victims. My sympathy and prayer is with the victim including her family. I can’t imagine the trauma and the psychological effect on the girl is currently going through. Will she enjoy going to school again? I thought even the word “school” will haunt her now. The memory of the rape incident is simply not going to disappear like it was a dream. I always believe ‘rape’ is the worst crime prevalent in our society. I don’t even have a better word to describe this crime.

What is it going to take for the government to amend the drawbacks with our Justice system? Under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, a convicted rapist is sentenced only for 7 years (which can be extended to 10 years) of imprisonment is a very light punishment compared to the victims pain, trauma, and in-erasable memories. But let alone the convicted rapist serving the 7 years in imprisonment, the rapist will be Scot-free within a year waiting to pound on another victim. The loophole in our justice is such that a defense lawyer is able to get a light verdict for their client with ridiculous theory and explanation in spite of the grave nature related to the crime.

The current rape case, the teacher raping the minor 14 years old student, I’m afraid if the defense lawyer comes up with a theory saying the girl was wearing a skirt in school which has no place in our society. In fact, I'm not able to digest the statement made by the defense lawyer of the 5 convicted rapists of 2012 incident. He said, “There is no place for women in our society.” I know why they are bringing up all sort of ridiculous explanation because they know the very ridiculous explanation can tweak the loophole of Section 376 of Indian Penal Code. Once a rapist is convicted with the supporting evidence, there should be no ground for retrial or appeals unless the verdicts in the cases come after a grossly unfair trial in which the judge did not review evidence or allow the defense to cross-examine.

Take the example of Jessica Lal murder accused Manu Sharma reports of hanging out with his friends in a pub in 10 November 2009 despite he is serving life time imprisonment in Tihar jail. Every now and then, I see in the news where the accused is requesting parole for this and that reasons. Is it this is not the loopholes in our Justice system where it need amendment? Or is this the justice the victims and their family deserved?

The victims has spoken, the victims family has spoken, the people has raised their voice, the issue has been tweeted, shared and blogged in every channels of media, etc. However the attitude of government is appalling who does not want any changes to better our life and provide a safe environment for our women population in spite of voting for them to lead us to brighter future. For God sake, we owe our existence to woman. Is it really difficult to realize the importance of women in our life? They are our mother, wife, daughter, friend, and whatever I’m today, it is because of my mother. One day, I am also going have a family. And it is not possible without a woman I love. 

But I'm afraid we have a Police administration failing to provide safety and security to woman in a large scale. The politicians doesn't give a damn about women safety and security. No offence but I regard all politicians as Authoritarian male ego-centered with no respect to woman. In fact, there are currently 499 males Member of Parliament sitting in Lok Shabha out of the total 543 seats. I highly doubt if they will amend the law regarding rape unless we all fight, fight again, and keep fighting for it, for only then evil be kept at jail for lifetime or sentence to death, though never quite eradicated. Anyone reading my blog please share with your family and friends so we can fight together for better tomorrow.

Thank you. Have a great day!

"The Head and Tail on the face of a Coin"

Good Afternoon! 

And what a blessed Sunday to be at home with all your family present except my parents are back home in Manipur! I can still remember when my parents forced me and my brother to go to Church or else suffer the wrath of my mom during lunch....:) I meant it, the lunch may be delicious but the wrath makes your good appetite go away. And they still do when we are home. By the way, my sister is celebrating with her husband their 4 years marriage anniversary. Congratulations to them!

The other night, I was up till 3:30 AM going through the news and videos on laptop. Usually, I follow the news of UK Daily Mail online for international news. And I came across a headline where a mob lynched a rapist in India. My mind was split with two outcomes regarding the incident. Firstly, I thought the lynching of the rapist was right. Secondly, the lynching was not right when he is supposed to face trial under our judicial system as per the charges brought forward by the victim. If he is pronounced guilty by the Judge, he should be jailed as per the sentencing. The incident appalled me seeing students in their school uniforms as well as youngster as part of the mob.

Out of curiosity, I opened the times of India news online in order to find the details on the lynching incident. Instead I found the present controversy on the documentary already telecast by BCC in United Kingdom titled "Indian Daughter" directed by Leslee Udwin. I read about it and I felt very sorry for the December 2012 rape incident victim parents. On the other hand, the rapist speaking about the incident in the documentary without any sort of remorse as if he is taunting the law which has not yet carry out his death sentence because of the loophole in Judicial system. The defense lawyer, maybe he is doing his job but it doesn't mean that he have a say on every woman dignity or their personal life especially on the victim who is no longer with us.

There is no doubt; the public has become frustrated with the loophole in our law and the Government inability to tackle this issue in addition to our politician’s inaction for the improvements to our legal system. If a public poll is to be conducted on the lynching of the so called rapist in Dimapur, I'm pretty sure 80-90 percent will agree with the lynching and people would wish if they can get a hand on all the rapists and murderers especially Mukesh Singh who I believe is a monster amidst us.

In fact, a convicted rapist is sentenced only 7 years in imprisonment as per our law whereas the victim has been affected physically and mentally for the rest of her life. Unless, there is an amendment/improvement in our legal system regarding rape cases, people will be motivated by the lynching in Dimapur. And if this goes on and on, just like the people of Dimapur, a time will come when all the people of Delhi break down the wall of Tihar jail to take the law into own hands. I really appreciate Leslee Udwin making the documentary and bringing up the issue again in media's limelight.

Leaving the unfortunate incident as food for thought, I heard a story from my brother about a sale practice in Call centre with Unites States customers. The business model is providing technical support to PC and laptop users at home. However, the model of the business is entirely based on lies and intimidating fears. First of all, the executives will send pop up message containing "Your PC or Laptop is affected by Virus or Malware" and "Please call this number: 000000000 for technical support" to the users. And when the users do call up as per the message, the executive will pitched in their technical support fee, the consequences if not fixed, intimidating the innocent user to cough up few dollars. Most of the time, they end up paying service fee rather than to use the PC or laptop with the unreal consequences of the threats if not fixed.

There was a lady who called up in order to fix her Church laptop she is using. The executive who answered the call was a new employee and felt very bad about it when he heard her side of story. And frankly, the lady has told the executive about her inability to provide the full service fee as she couldn't afford unless it is reduced to substantial amount. Bravo! The executive told her not to worry about the laptop. He instead advised her to delete the temporary internet files, change the browser settings to "Turn on Pop-up Blocker" and then to restart the laptop. He also assured the lady the laptop will be fine once she complete the suggested tips. The lady expressed her gratitude whole-heartedly to the executive. But the fact is that, the executive felt really sorry about him knowing he is in the wrong place. Unfortunately or fortunately may be, the conversation between him and the lady was monitored by his boss as he was new employee.

The boss summoned him immediately to his office and started mouthing, "we are not a god damn it charity house and how dare you provide a free service to the lady without consulting me?" But the executive has already realized he is not in the right place after the call with the lady. Immediately, the executive gave the resignation and walks away from his former boss office. Once he steps out of the premises, he felt like a bird out of cage and with his conscience free of guilt. I was thinking what if the laptop was not a Church property or if the executive was not a Christian or what if the lady was able to afford the fee. Maybe, he would not help the lady because she wasn't able to afford the fee and save his job. Or maybe, he would have charged the fee if the lady was able to afford.

But the guy efforts to help and do the right thing are the essence of the story regardless of the business model or his boss or his job. I'm sure the guy will be happier today than to stick to the job where it can rob him the values and the work etiquette he treasured. Like there is head in a coin, there is also a tail. And if you toss the coin, if can go either head or tail. In same way, it is always either doing right or doing wrong.

Have a blessed Sunday!