It is pathetic that support is given to murderers and rapists by organisations, politicians and lawyers

By Sheshu Babu*

Atrocities on women including rapes and murders have been discussed and debated at length. Also, violence on girls and girl- child have been highlighted many times. But, these days, girls below teen age are not only raped and tortured for days but also killed in a most grotesque way. Any word, whether ' terrible ' or ' horrific ' sounds euphemistic in describing these cold-blooded murders. Even more pathetic is the support given to these murderers by organisations, politicians and lawyers making police system, which is already inefficient, ineffective.

Kathua and after

Even as Asifa case has gained prominence and demands to punish culprits are on the rise, there are reports of a brutally raped and tortured body of a minor girl aged about 10 was found in Surat, Gujarat (April 14, 2018, kracktivist.org) . Another girl aged about 9 or 10 was mutilated and the body was found near Rohtak, Haryana (April 16, 2018, timesofindia.indiatimes.com) . These are few cases reported. There may be others which are not reported. Even disabled girls are not spared. According to a report in mumbaimirrror.indiatimes.com (April 15, 2018), by Rahi Gaikward ,almost all deaf and mute girls at Karjat School were sexually abused. The caretaker was arrested on the complaints. The girls could communicate through sign language.

Crimes

The crimes against women and girls are horrendous. In Congo, as young as six months old babies have been raped by army according to a report by Marianne Schnall, women media center (February 6, 2009, www.alternet.org) . Nazi Germany had experienced sexual assaults on women and girls during world war. All over the world, women and girls have been sexually abused during wars. Around 120 million girls ( slightly more than 1 in 10) experience sexual assaults or forced intercourse according to UNICEF (2014) report published in www.unwomen.org (“Facts and figures: Ending violence against women”). About 35% of women worldwide experienced sexual or physical assaults.

Reasons

While women are vulnerable, girls, especially those below sixteen years, are more fragile and vulnerable. They have little or no awareness of how to tackle violence. Male hegemony makes girls indefensible and they are forced to succumb. If they raise voice, they are either killed on the spot or taken to remote places and murdered. These days, women and girls reporting assaults has increased though it is still low. To erase any chance of being caught, girls are being killed by the rapists. They fulfill their sadistic desires as long as they wish and murder the helpless girls in order to escape punishment. Many are not even charged with sexual assaults despite legal provisions.

Shame

These incidents are a shame to humanity and reflect the rising trend of cannibalism trait in males. These incidents are hallmark of a regressive archaic society. No amount of condemnation is enough to deplore such acts of violent atrocities.

Future

The present situation is very sad. One is moved to tears when one comes to know of such atrocities. The civil society must start to find measures for stopping the assaults on a war- footing. Male chauvinism should be eradicated. Most of these crimes are related with religious hatred. The women and girls fall aprey to religious bigotry.

Any hate - national or international - has vast impact on women lives, specially girls under nineteen or twenty. They become prime targets. The politicians use the situation to spill venom into society. They assist in atrocities continue to achieve their goals. Many leaders have brazenly supported Kathua rapist accused and even threatened those who voice against the criminals.
Girls are future of civilization. They must be protected. They are vulnerable section of society. Stringent measures should be taken against eve - teasers, perpetrators of crimes on women or girls and rapists.
Society is at the cross- roads. It is on the brink of disaster. To prevail sanity, male criminals should be punished. Awareness of consequences of such crimes must increase at the earliest.
---

Writer from anywhere and everywhere. Whenever the writer ponders on the question 'Who am I?', he finds some answer in a lyric by Bhupen Hazarika written in Assamese ' Ami ek jajabor': " I am a gypsy ...* The earth has called me her own
And I have forgotten my own home"

Comments

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

Search This Blog