Woman, uninterrupted: we see the crime, where’s the punishment?

One more rape, this time in a cab, in New Delhi. And all I hear is moral outrage. Talk shows with the same tired, familiar faces, spouting the same, tired clichés about women’s rights, freedom of movement, the lack of safety in public spaces, and so on and on, ad nauseam.  

I am sick and tired of moral outrage. It is no longer a valid response to rape. It is neither useful nor is it even poignant anymore. And I don’t want to hear twaddle about ‘banning’ this or that, or ‘drafting new laws’ or ‘insisting on certification’ or ‘valid licences’. They all mean nothing.

What I want to hear about is

implementation of the law as it exists. We have enough laws. And certifications. And licences. What we lack is implementation, or even just the will to implement the law.

If Shiv Kumar Yadav has been booked earlier on many counts of sexual harassment, illegal arms possession, even rape, then why is he still at large? It is because our legal system is just not capable of putting away a multiple offender. The

process of asking Shiv Kumar Yadav to get a police clearance certificate exists, but what also exists is a system that lets him get a false certificate or gets him the job even without that certificate. The same system that lets any idiot get a driving licence because road transport authorities have tie-ups and pay-offs with driving schools.

Here are just a few offences punishable under the Motor Vehicles Act: To stop on pedestrian crossings, to overtake dangerously, to cut lanes dangerously, to misbehave with passengers, to use improper headlights, to drive on footpaths… Have you ever seen a cop penalise or even reprimand drivers who break these rules? After Nirbhaya, they ‘banned’ unlicensed buses. They are back today because the ‘ban’ cannot be implemented. Heck, we don’t even have a verdict yet for what has been called the rape case that moved the country’s conscience! I already see cars with tinted windows back on the streets.

The most vicious crimes of murder, rape, arson and loot take years to bring to trial, and are often lost en route because of legal/police bungling, technical lapses or simply pressure from high places. When they finally reach a courtroom, our legal system ensures they stay there for decades without resolution. There are enough laws against rape or arson, but our legal system has abysmally failed to demonstrate that it can and will punish the breaking of these laws.  

An Indian won’t dare to spit or urinate against a wall in Singapore because he is afraid of the hefty and immediate fine that he must pay. In India, the same man sees absolutely no reason to hold either his bladder or his paan juice. The difference is not in geography, it is in how effective the disincentive is.

Punishment is meant to be a deterrent against crime. Whether the cab driver rapes a woman or jumps a red light, as long as he knows he can get away with it, he will continue to do so. More and more laws, bans or licences will not stop the next, and the next rape.