All rape cases should see the light
The Viqarunnisa Noon School and College teacher, Parimal Joydhar, was jailed for life term last Wednesday for raping a girl of the reputable school in the city four years ago. This indeed is good news not only for the girl and her family but to the general people who were outraged by the incident. But the worrying fact is that it took as many as four years to establish the guilt of Joydhar who is a blot in the teachers community of Bangladesh.
We do not want to speculate too much but there are reasons to believe that this is not the first time this teacher took physical advantage of a student. We think that the authorities may think of establishing a special tribunal to try vicious criminals like Joydhar and expedite the judicial process regarding cases of similar nature. Rape is an offence that does not brook any compromise. For the victim, rape is often worse than death itself. However, it is encouraging that even after four years Joydhar could be awarded punishment. It is better late than never.
The patriarchal society has failed to prosecute hundreds of rapes and rarely brings men to justice for their crimes. We want a police force that is trained to protect women. And we also want a system to fast-track thousands of rape investigations that are winding slowly through an apparently indifferent justice system.
Very unfortunately many rape cases still go unreported because a large number of victims feel insecure about reporting rape or even sexual harassment to lawmakers, either because they are not taken seriously or because in several cases the protectors have turned perpetrators. Cops raping women are regrettably not very uncommon. Many women who do report rape are subject to humiliation and abuse that constitutes a second assault.
Therefore, the accusers must be taken seriously and their claims investigated aggressively. Rape is a savage and cruel act. It is time to weed out rapists from our society. It is time to end the culture of silence and cover-up. More broadly, we must work on changing a culture in which women are routinely devalued. Speedy convictions and awareness campaigns is the answer to the problem. This is an issue that should be addressed at state level to reduce the barbarity perpetrated against women in all corners of this country. Women should no longer see themselves as victims, but as survivors, no matter what their ordeal.
