B L Saraf
One more incident of sexual offence stares us upfront. On 5th December, the National Capital witnessed a young female executive of MNC falling prey to the lust of a rapist who happened to be her taxi driver of app- based Taxi service, run by Uber service provider.
No wonder citizenry felt incensed , as it did in December 2012 when Nirbhaya was brutally raped and murdered in the same city. The matter got compounded when it came to the light that the accused driver had a fake character certificate issued by the Delhi police, for obtaining driving license. Shocking , as it comes almost on the heels of the 2012 outrage and in the teeth of stringency in the penal laws, concerning the sexual offences, put by the Justice Verma Committee.
Crimes against the women not only contravene domestic laws but also constitute a serious breach of obligation under the international conventions, which India has ratified along with the treaties that oblige protection of women from any kind of discrimination and sexual violence .
Though, this time police did act fast, arrested the offender and the seized the vehicle yet much has been left to be desired.
True, there is no use blaming police or other law enforcement agencies all the time: particularly, in the manner in which the dastardly act has been committed and made difficult to prevent. It is also true that it is practically impossible to have surveillance in every corner at every time. But police cannot escape its primary duty to create an atmosphere where a fear is instilled among the potential offenders and the chance of mischief are, at least, minimised.
We will have to face the reality that the profile of sexual offender has under gone a sea change . Earlier, he used to be a known bad character, vagabond, school dropout or a maniac of sorts. Today he is a well read person, a friend, supposedly well bred neighbour, a sophisticated colleague or a relation of any age-a person with no previous case history.
The predator has changed colours and modus operandi. Should we, then, call it a bane or a boon of the ‘ open global markets’ and ‘open societies’ ? We are surely living in up and down times. Though in an economic background but certainly not to be lost in the given context, Allen Greenspan sums up the issue in his, widely read, book – The Age Of Turbulence – Adventures in A New World; “It is the age of turbulence, and it would be imprudent and immoral to minimise the human cost of its disruptions …………….”
We need to find out what has gone wrong and see for ourselves where, the fashionable”Permissive Culture”, often misplaced emphasis on ” Personal liberty ” of our adolescent boys and girls, public celebration of ” Kiss of Love ” and minimal importance given to our age old social values, have brought us to.
Element of exuberance has overtaken us. “Exuberance is a celebration of life” Allan Greenspan tells it in the same book. Ironically, most people of dubious moral fibre have taken the celebrations to the bestial lengths, as we see it in the ever growing tribe of the sexual offenders. Tragically, cultural and civilizational norms are failing to overcome momentary feelings of lust of the depraved. Here, Laws alone will not help. As a long term measure to curb such crimes, a larger societal change is required through the medium of education and awareness . It will be useful to have a look at our past and seek some guidance for the future . It was not for nothing that Winston Churchill once remarked ” The further backward you look , the further forward you can see .”
Few questions need to be answered. Is our urge to embrace’ open societies ‘- without being fully prepared – making us pay a cost in terms of devaluation of our values and ‘ moral disruptions’ which Allen Greenspan has alluded to in his book.
Are the sexual degradations of the offenders, therefore, “moral disruptions”-a price we have to pay for being a part of the “open societies.” Students of the sociology should provide answers to these questions.
The Government has banned the Taxi provider. It is purely a knee- jerk reaction to the media rampage. If tomorrow such a crime is committed in a public transport should we ban it, then? This banning spree will not do. Mindset must be changed. State has to step in, so has the law. But we have seen that despite stringent laws made in the wake of Nibhaya case nothing much has changed on the ground. That makes a case for speedy trial of cases of sexual nature. More than the severity of punishment it is the time bound certainty of the punishment, to be meted out to the offender, that may work. Effort has to be made in that direction. Criminal Justice delivery system should rise to the occasion . Till that happens, let us be on guard against the predators, masquerading as our friends, etc. For the vulnerable females, caution should be the bye -word.
( The author is Former Principal District & Sessions Judge)
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