Rape, it seems, is normal. Unfortunately.
Anthropological studies on human behaviour say a man can have many children, with little inconvenience to himself, while a woman can have only a few, and with great pain.
That makes females more selective about partners.
So, males have to resort to a strategy for achieving reproductive success.
Rape, is therefore, normal human behaviour, say the academics. This inherent mindset gives man a social ticket to rape women, whenever, wherever possible.
Over the degraded decades, rape has also become a revenge tactic, a pleasure tool selling like hot cakes.
The more gruesome it gets, the more viewership it fetches and the bigger the headlines it makes (to wit, Bollywood films where rape scenes are de rigeur).
Society’s willingness to accept the man and oust the victim instead, makes the trip more fun.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s sexual exploits with senior female advocate, Anusuya, only ended up destroying the victim’s personal and professional life. Singhvi is hale and hearty, socialising and continuing with his marital life, normally.
Geetika Sharma had to kill herself to be heard. But her alleged assaulter Gopal Kanda is not only socially accepted but represents a political party, selling dreams of “hawai chappals se hawai jahaz”. Just a normal man.
Nirbhaya’s main rapist, the mastermind who came up with innovative ways to rip apart organs, is leading a normal life in Kerala as a tailor, training and gadgets supplied by “society”.
Incidentally, to make irony out of tragedy, I got molested at Nirbhaya’s protest march at India Gate.
Please don’t blame the law and judiciary. We, as a society, as men and women accept these people back as neighbours, boyfriends, husbands, colleagues, bosses, and even political leaders. And if rape is such a normal thing then why don’t we accept the victim also? Normally? Just how many of us have the courage to accept the victim? Give her job? Get married to her? Vote for her? (barring the exception of Phulan Devi a but only because she dared to kill her rapists).
Manisha or Nirbhaya, the society is equally at fault. Today, we have parents who are bereft of values, culture and ethics. Parents will never reprimand a son because he is the representative of the family chromosomes. Parents fight and beat each other in front of the child. They cheat and tell lies in front of the child. They misbehave with in-laws in front of the child. They have extra marital affairs in front of the child. They fight with teachers for scolding their kid. They do not scrutinise the child’s friends circle.
You think a child with such an upbringing will have a normal mind?
Why aren’t we punishing the parents of rapists, too for bringing up a rapist?  The mother of the rapists should be asked to shoot and kill her son (or inflict some severe punishment). By law. Unless we punish parents along with rapists, this society will keep on cultivating rapists.
By the way  going by history, there could be a political angle to malign the Chief Minister of UP. “Dalit Girl Gangraped” certainly looks coloured. But this is the time to do some restructuring and compulsive parental education.
Who instigated or paid the men to commit this “normal act” and if, can be solved later.

Photo credit: clipartpanda.com