Nirbhaya,
You may not be aware of who I am. But I, just like the rest of my fellow Indians, know who you are, and what you have stood for.
As I pen down these words, and stare onto the laptop screen intermittently, the December 16 episode flashes in my mind. I have only read about it, and heard about it. And that alone is pretty much sufficient to conceive within my mind, the vicious thoughts of the phases of torture, agony and unimaginable trauma you had undergone on that nightmarish night.
Post that incident, the nation erupted with rage. The common man's heart shredded with empathy and a seemingly unquenchable thirst for justice. But today, the nine-month quest for justice has finally ended. The beasts have been sentenced to death. I heart-fully wish there were a punishment beyond death; as for those barbaric monsters, and the extent of pain and humiliation they had caused to you and the entire strata of womenfolk, even death would be a compromise in justice. But unfortunately, we don't have anything beyond it.
Your demise has not gone in vain. It has brought the hidden and buried concern for women's safety into the nation's front-yard. People actually began to understand the reality; the harsh reality that women in India today are seen through the spectacles of cheap entertainment and disrespect. Your last breath shook the nation and our constitution; new laws came into place, and people started comprehending that 'Rape' is not an easy word. We have understood the enormity of shame and disgrace the heinous act holds, and we also have realised that giving women the respect they deserve is a duty, which has dignity in itself.
But, there are thousands of other women who are awaiting justice. Some have been waiting for it all their lives, unsure of getting it; while there are others, who are hopeful for it. And you have given them that hope. A hope for justice, which, very sadly, seemed to be dying in this country.
The government has just announced death to the four rapists. But how long will it take for those four to be hanged? How long will it take to get justice done to the rest of the victims? Will the government dust its hands off now? Will the people forget about the other victims of viciousness? Will the common man now lay back and rest assured that the 'woman of India' will be safe from now on? Just for you alone, it took a 'fast-track' judicial system nine months to arrive on the doorsteps of justice. What about the innumerable other innocent women, whose spirit of life had been put off by the rough winds of sexual terrorism? When will they get a taste of it? Was this act of justice justifiable enough to invoke fear in the minds of wannabe rapists? Has the day arrived when the common 'woman' of this country will be able to tread the roads of this land fearlessly, and with freedom? Has the Mahatma's symbolic comparison of real freedom with a woman's intrepid walk on a lonely night finally come true? Will guilt pounce upon the juvenile rapist and make him take his own life? Our government failed to give you complete justice; so will time take the responsibility?
I put these questions, not to you, but to myself. You don't have to answer anymore, for you have already given an answer to the flickering flame of womanhood.
Justice to you is done; but justice to womankind still awaits.
Yours Empathetically
A hopeful Indian
You may not be aware of who I am. But I, just like the rest of my fellow Indians, know who you are, and what you have stood for.
As I pen down these words, and stare onto the laptop screen intermittently, the December 16 episode flashes in my mind. I have only read about it, and heard about it. And that alone is pretty much sufficient to conceive within my mind, the vicious thoughts of the phases of torture, agony and unimaginable trauma you had undergone on that nightmarish night.
Post that incident, the nation erupted with rage. The common man's heart shredded with empathy and a seemingly unquenchable thirst for justice. But today, the nine-month quest for justice has finally ended. The beasts have been sentenced to death. I heart-fully wish there were a punishment beyond death; as for those barbaric monsters, and the extent of pain and humiliation they had caused to you and the entire strata of womenfolk, even death would be a compromise in justice. But unfortunately, we don't have anything beyond it.
Your demise has not gone in vain. It has brought the hidden and buried concern for women's safety into the nation's front-yard. People actually began to understand the reality; the harsh reality that women in India today are seen through the spectacles of cheap entertainment and disrespect. Your last breath shook the nation and our constitution; new laws came into place, and people started comprehending that 'Rape' is not an easy word. We have understood the enormity of shame and disgrace the heinous act holds, and we also have realised that giving women the respect they deserve is a duty, which has dignity in itself.
But, there are thousands of other women who are awaiting justice. Some have been waiting for it all their lives, unsure of getting it; while there are others, who are hopeful for it. And you have given them that hope. A hope for justice, which, very sadly, seemed to be dying in this country.
The government has just announced death to the four rapists. But how long will it take for those four to be hanged? How long will it take to get justice done to the rest of the victims? Will the government dust its hands off now? Will the people forget about the other victims of viciousness? Will the common man now lay back and rest assured that the 'woman of India' will be safe from now on? Just for you alone, it took a 'fast-track' judicial system nine months to arrive on the doorsteps of justice. What about the innumerable other innocent women, whose spirit of life had been put off by the rough winds of sexual terrorism? When will they get a taste of it? Was this act of justice justifiable enough to invoke fear in the minds of wannabe rapists? Has the day arrived when the common 'woman' of this country will be able to tread the roads of this land fearlessly, and with freedom? Has the Mahatma's symbolic comparison of real freedom with a woman's intrepid walk on a lonely night finally come true? Will guilt pounce upon the juvenile rapist and make him take his own life? Our government failed to give you complete justice; so will time take the responsibility?
I put these questions, not to you, but to myself. You don't have to answer anymore, for you have already given an answer to the flickering flame of womanhood.
Justice to you is done; but justice to womankind still awaits.
Yours Empathetically
A hopeful Indian
