INNOCENTS JAILED, WHILE THE GUILTY ROAM FREE?

BY NOLAN PINTO

A pastor who regularly helps in the prison here in Mysore and I were having a talk on many things a few days ago. From what happens in there to how life is tough for them, we touched upon all these and more. The warden himself confessed to the pastor that many in there are not at all accused or involved in the crime but due to reasons unknown to us, were put behind bars.

The pastor then began to speak about how those incarcerated have lost their families. They could not even get out when somebody was sick, dying or even passed away. They had to grieve in silence. What caught my imagination was that Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is out on parole. His wife is unwell and hence the authorities gave him a month if I am right.

He told me about this one man, who was allegedly falsely put in jail. He was an eye witness to a murder. This person has been in jail for the past 8 years. During these years, his wife, son and parents passed away. The pastor tells me that this man has nobody and nowhere to go. The jail is now home sweet home. Even if he is let out now, he said, what can he do? Shunned by society and by his own relatives, who will give him a job? This man, when asked by the pastor for his jail number did not know what that was either. The others convicts upon hearing him being asked, forced him to go get all the documents he had to give it to the pastor. Such is that man’s state of affairs.

Then there was another case where this man was jailed after his wife passed away. Again, we do not know how true it is but according to him, his wife's family put a dowry case on him and that is how he was arrested and incarcerated. He told this pastor that if his wife was alive, she would tell the world he is innocent. She, according to him, was suffering from heart problems and he, the husband tried to take care of her by getting her treated in different hospitals. He was crying bitterly while narrating his life.

I listened patiently and quietly to what he was saying, all the time feeling real sad and at the same time once again angry with our system. The system that favours the rich and powerful and ignores the poor.

Maybe they were wrong and deserved punishment, maybe they have been reformed or maybe they just have been framed. All I am saying is that the justice system must be equal to all. Why is Sanjay Dutt out on parole while these people are stuck inside? I am sure his wife has a lot of aides and family to look after her. They are not without money either. So why did he get parole? Our system sucks.

I have personally seen how the poor are treated and how the rich are worshipped. It is sickening to see all that happening in what we call a thriving democracy. WE are not a democracy.

LAND OF SAVAGES!!

BY NOLAN PINTO

When I wake up, the first thing I do as usual these days is to check tweets. Lovely source of information in a jiffy, I can then read more in detail the stories that interest me. But something caught my eye and I was aghast. The story of a woman tourist gang-raped by 2 groups of men repeatedly for over three hours on Christmas eve.

Image courtesy- www.indianexpress.com

It was reported in a news channels online page that on Dec 27,11 of the 15 accused have been arrested so far that included a juvenile. The victim, who hails from Tamil Nadu, along with her woman relative was waiting for a friend at a bus stand in Karaikal, when a 15-member gang tried to abduct them. While her relative managed to escape, she was taken to a secluded place and gangraped. The accused let her off later.

Now, lets get to it. She is just 20 years old. I want to ask why no media channel went big on it? Did this gang rape by not 2 or 3 men but by 15 allegedly not seem juicy enough to gain TRPs? Or was it simply because this happened somewhere way down South and that it was not the target market? Or was it too down market, not your up market Delhi?

Image courtesy-

rhrealitycheck.org

Whatever it is, it seems the new stringent laws have had no effect whatsoever to deter rapists. Nope, none at all. In fact, we keep hearing about rapes and gang rapes like everyday news so much so that, nothing is novel about it anymore.

I mean, her life is lost. I am not being a pessimist here but just stating the facts. It will take years of counselling for her to come out of this and then she will find it really hard to trust a Man.

Image courtesy-

www.womenundersiegeproject.org

What sort of a country we are living in I sometimes wonder? Where we do not respect a woman and rather have fun irritating, hurting, raping and murdering them each and everyday. Its strange since we are not born of Men but begin our lives in the womb of a woman. And its a woman who brings us up, cares for us and loves us the most, at least 99 percent of the time.

Yes, as a man,  the urge to get it out is there at times but we are civilized human beings, not dogs on the road to go hump anybody we see. I am so angry with those men who give the rest of us a bad name, each and everyday.

To make matters worse, a DMK-MLA called this some sort of prostitution. Alright, if investigations do find that it was, does it mean she didn't have a right? By saying she is a prostitute, does not mean she can be used however they deem fit.

Image courtesy-

http://i.huffpost.com

Sometimes I wonder, if the problem lies in the law again. Can we not especially for rape,  castrate those men? Let's do that for sometime and see how it works. I bet this fear will stop would be rapists right in their tracks. What say? After all, only desperate times call for desperate measures.

Image courtesy-

londonoa.com

I hope that nameless victim recovers and leads a life she wanted to, properly without fear. Easy to wish but I pray she does lead a normal good life. And those of you who are reading this, how safe would you feel venturing out on New Year's knowing that the woman with you- be it your wife, sister, girlfriend, mother could simply be abducted and abused with no one simply giving a damn?

It has just been a year since the Delhi Gang Rape. Are we willing to forget it so soon?