“In the last six years since Nirbhaya’s brutal gang rape and death, the situation has further deteriorated in terms of people’s perception. Now politicians and public defend the rape accused, and see it through communal glass. And it is not a good sign,” said Nirbhaya’s mother, upset after hearing the news of an eight-year-old who was gang-raped and murdered in Kathua.
“It is sad to see that the ones who started the slogan ‘save daughter, educate daughter’, are now defending their MLA from Unnao in an alleged gang-rape case of a minor girl and her father’s custodial death,” she said.
No significant change
“When the incident had taken place with my daughter, the politicians who were in the Opposition then had taken out candlelight vigils and marches, and had forced the ruling government to amend the law and make it more stringent making women safety a priority. But after the Opposition came to power they have done nothing. I don’t see any significant change,” she added.
Still clueless
Nirbhaya’s mother said that they have got justice only on paper. Nirbhaya died in 2012 and after six years, her parents are still clueless when the accused will be hanged.
“By defending rape accused of an-eight-year-old girl in Kathua and a BJP MLA in Unnao, a section of politicians have killed humanity. Rape can never be communal. I request people and politicians to stop politicising the rape of a small girl. If you can’t deliver justice to her, then, you have no right to comment on her. The rapists should be hanged,” she added.
“I can relate with the pain and anger of the victim’s mother. The mother must be suffering more after witnessing her child’s murder accused being defended and her daughter being referred to as a Muslim girl. After the Nirbhaya incident, we expected major changes in the society. We expected to see women feeling safe, but, the situation has worsened to such an extent that nowadays, girl children are being raped in various parts of our country,” she said.
Politicians don’t care, she says. “It is unfortunate that for our government rape is not a grave issue. They think these are trivial matters and will get settled with time. I can’t believe that a rape victim can be identified by her religion. All thanks to our politicians,” she says.
