The Curse of That Night (18 page)

Judges must be Sensitive to Women’s Problem

New Delhi:
The mindset of judges needs to change. There is a phenomenal rise in crimes against women and protection granted to women by the Constitution of India and other laws can be meaningful only if those entrusted with the job of doing justice are sensitised towards women’s problems.

A statement issued by the women’s group criticised the ordinance for leaving out crucial parts of the Verma panel recommendations.

The mindset of judges needs to change, the Supreme Court recently said while expressing shock at the Karnataka trial court order acquitting a man accused of cruelty and abetting his wife’s suicide.

The sessions court, while acquitting all the three accused had said, “Conduct of the accused in reprimanding the deceased for her lethargic habits, advising her to be more compatible with members of her family can’t be considered as act of cruelty.”

The trial court also said, “…the couple were staying together till her death. Therefore, one or two beatings are not cruelty to drive the deceased to commit suicide.”

The Supreme Court expressed its distress. It said, “The tenor of the judgement suggests that beating your wife is normal in married life. This means that giving one or more slaps to a wife by her husband does not matter.”

Chapter 43

Rishi

“Any problem?” I asked her. I was returning from a party thrown by one of my friends.

“No, I am ok,” she said. Talking to a stranger and asking him for a lift seemed inappropriate at that time considering the crimes against women in Delhi.

“You want lift? I can drop you somewhere,” I asked.

“No, I am fine. I will wait for an auto. Thanks,” she replied.

“Look, you won’t get an auto here. There is an auto stand at the T-point some three kilometres away. I can drop you there,” he said smilingly.

Aarti had no other choice but to accept my proposal. She sat inside the car and I revved up the engine.

We hadn’t even driven a kilometre when a speeding Mahindra Scorpio over took and halted right in front of us. I suddenly had to apply brakes.

“What the fuck! Are you mad?” I screamed.

Aarti shut her eyes momentarily, and was rudely woken by a loud rapping on the car window. I opened the door and before I could react, I was pulled out by two men and was thrown onto the road. Horrified, Aarti shrank further into her seat. Even as I battled the assailants a few feet away a hand snaked in through the window and unlocked the door. I have never imagined a more terrifying moment in my life.

The limited visibility was enough for Aarti to identify the face of the most villainous man she knew.

Yes, it was Omi Yadav. On seeing her, Omi’s expression changed. His face looked like a hungry tiger waiting to eat its prey.

He reached in and stroked Aarti’s arm, “How are you babes,” he slurred looking at her lecherously.

I looked at her but in vain. I was lying unconscious with blood coming out from my head.

They were kidnapping her, forcing her into the car. I tried to scream, for help but nothing came out.

“Omi Bhaiya, if we leave this son of a bitch here, he might go and call the police. What should we do with him?” said one of them.

“Hmmm… le chal saale ko bhi. G***d marenge iski bhi aaj ache se,” said Omi.

And they took me too with them…

The cloth in my mouth shifted inside and was all but choking me. The men stopped at a room on the other side, carried Aarti inside, and placed her on a bed. I tried to fight, but got a punch on my face in return.

They took me to another room and tied me to a chair with my hands behind my back.

I could feel the wire slicing deeper into my flesh on my wrists. The pain barely registered next to the rising panic I was feeling for Aarti. The cloth in my mouth was slipping deeper into my throat. My vision started to tunnel.

“Leave her alone asshole,” I tried to scream, but due to the cloth no voice came out.

Behind me, one of them closed the room’s door and flipped on the light. My eyes were watering profusely. Everything was a blur.

A muscled arm reached out and yanked the cloth from my mouth.

“Leave her you bastards. I am going to kill you all,” I screamed as soon as he took the cloth out.

A kick landed on my stomach which was hard enough to shut me up for a few minutes.

“Saale, Bh*****d. Herogiri dikhayega?” he said and punched me again on my face. Blood gushed out from my nose. I spitted that blood on his face. And with a hockey stick he banged my head. My vision blurred. I was losing conscious. It felt as if my life was about to end.

He switched off the light, put the cloth back into my mouth, closed the door and left to take his turn on Aarti.

In that strange dark room, trapped on a chair I strained to comprehend that these would be my final moments. I was feeling ashamed as those fucking assholes were raping her and I was not able to do anything. I tried to break free, to scream but that didn’t help.

“Aaaaaagggghhhhh!” I screamed in disgust but my voice got blocked by the cloth.

In that moment, I realized my insignificance in the world. It was as lonely and humbling a feeling as I had ever experienced. Almost thankfully, I could feel the breath-hold breakpoint arriving.

The moment was upon me. I could hear her screams. Screams for help. My lungs forced out their spent contents, collapsing in eager preparation to inhale. I wanted to die. I felt helpless, not able to save her. It was my mistake.

Like a man no longer able to hold his hand to a burning stove, I gave myself over to fate.

The pain that filled my chest was greater than I had ever imagined. It was multiplied by guilt and helplessness.

And I closed my eyes and everything went blank….

Chapter 44

Abhijeet

Abhijeet listened to every single thing I said and made a note of it.

“It wasn’t your mistake,” said Abhijeet.

“You were helpless, Rishi. But, you can help Aarti now. You can help her get justice.”

“How?” I asked.

“You need to repeat whatever you said to me in court,” said Rohan.

“But, he is not well!” said Pavitra.

“Pavtra, please. This is something I really need to do,” I tried to convince her.

“But Rishi, your condition…”

“Please Pavitra. I got to help her get justice,” I said.

Angry voices erupted in the hall as an argument broke out. It was 11:45 p.m. and half of the hospital staff was gone. It sounded as if whoever had arrived at the hospital didn’t want to wait. Almost immediately, we heard a heavy door at the end of the hallway burst open. Abhijeet watched until he saw a figure approaching down the corridor.

The man was dressed entirely in black leather. He moved effortlessly, as if on a mission, and was heading directly towards my room.

Without hesitation Dr. Anwesha stepped into the open doorway to the connecting room to block the visitor’s passage.

“Stop,” said Dr. Anwesha, holding out her hand trying to stop him.

“Who are you? You can’t go inside.”

The stranger, without breaking stride, produced a silenced gun and aimed directly at Dr. Anwehsa.

“What the fuck! Down everyone,” yelled Rohan.

For an instance, I felt as if time had stopped.

Fighting the sedatives in my system, I raised my eyes to take a look at the assassin who was covering the last few yards towards my open door. As he neared the room, he looked towards me and instantly swung his weapon in my direction… aiming at my head.

“Am I going to die?” I wondered.

I recoiled, certain, I had been shot, but the noise wasn’t from the attacker’s gun. Rather, the bang had been the slam of the room’s metal door as Abhijeet threw himself against it and locked.

“Run!” he shouted.

“We got to find another way!” screamed Pavitra in fear.

Outside, a barrage of bullets exploded against the metal exterior of the door.

“Who the hell is he? What does he want from me?” I said.

“He has to be Sunil Yadav’s assassin who has come here to kill us all,” said Rohan.

“But how did that son of a bitch got to know that we all are here?” asked Abhijeet.

“He could have been following us all the way down here. The hospital is almost empty, so he got a chance to kill us,” replied Rohan.

“This is not the time for this stupid discussion. We need to get out of here. NOW!” said Pavitra.

Somehow, my body was in motion, panic and instinct now overruling the sedatives.

“Follow me!” it was Dr. Anwesha.

Abhijeet grabbed my arm and pulled me across the room. The chaos continued in the room as I lurched forward on unstable legs. My mind felt alert but my body was slow to respond.

“Move!”

Bullets continued to slam against the heavy doorknob.

“Get inside this bathroom. There is a recovery room adjacent to it,” said Dr. Anwesha.

The young doctor took control. She strode through the bathroom to a door and yanked it open, and led everyone into an adjoining recovery room.

The next few minutes were a blur for me… descending stairs… stumbling… falling… total chaos… shouts… screams. The pounding in my head was almost unbearable.

And then the air grew a bit cold.

We were outside.

Rohan rushed towards the parked BMW and everyone got inside. They flew at full speed, leaving behind the hospital and the assassin miles away.

“It was a narrow escape! Thanks, Doctor,” said Abhijeet.

Dr. Anwesha looked outside the window. It was indeed a narrow escape…

Finally Justice Granted in New Delhi Gang Rape

New Delhi:
Sexual assault cases in India have been increasing for many years, but the fatal gang rape of a woman in New Delhi has pushed the issue to the top of the national agenda.

The brutal attack sparked outrage on the treatment of women in the country and has made females more aware of the danger they might have to face.

Sexual crimes against women and children are reported every day in Indian newspapers, and women often complain about feeling insecure when they leave their homes.

Since the gang-rape incident involving Omi Yadav, son of MLA Sunil Yadav, dozens of rapes cases in India – against both Indian women and tourists have been highlighted.

The case took an entirely different turn when the victim’s lawyer Mr. Abhijeet Raichand presented two important evidences, a video recording and an eye-witness in front of the judge.

The attack forced India to confront the reality that sexually-assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, forcing them to keep quiet and discouraging them from reporting it to the authorities for fear of exposing their families to ridicule.

Activists say passing new, strong laws is not enough, and that the government must ensure that police and the justice system crack down on crimes against women.

Women face daily harassment across India, ranging from catcalls on the streets, groping and touching in public transport, to rape.

Government data shows the number of reported rape cases in the country rose by nearly 17 percent between 2007 and 2011.

Rape victims rarely press charges because of social stigma and the fear that they will be accused of inviting the attack.

Many women say that they structure their lives around protecting themselves and their daughters from attack.

For the rape conducted, the three convicts Omi Yadav, Vijay and Suraj were sentenced to an imprisonment of seven years.

About 100 supporters of the main opposition Party protested outside the house of the chief of the ruling Party, demanding that the government should ensure the safety and security of women and girls in the city.

The protesters also demanded that the Delhi police chief be removed and that police officials accused of failing to act on the victim’s report be dismissed.

“Police and other officials that fail to do their jobs and instead engage in abusive behaviour should know that they will be punished,” director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said.

Sexual crimes against women and children are reported every day in Indian newspapers, and women often complain about their sense of insecurity when they leave their homes.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for change in attitude towards women in India, where there has been a fierce debate since fatal New Delhi gang rape about the routine mistreatment of females.

“The gruesome assault on the teenage girl a few days back reminds us once again of the need to work collectively to root out this sort of depravity from our society,” Mr Singh said on Sunday at a meeting with civil servants.

A day earlier, Singh had urged Indian society ‘to look within, and work to root out the evil of rape and other such crimes from our midst’.

The gang rape of a young woman and the fatal beating of the person trying to save her in New Delhi sparked outrage and spurred the government to pass tough laws on crimes against women, including death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to victim’s death.

“Enacting strong law is simply but a step. The government should focus urgently on implementation, if it is serious about protecting children and other victims of sexual abuse,” Mr Singh said.