june 21, 2014

Economic & Political Weekly EPW june 21, 2014 vol xlix no 25
7
Lessons from a Hanging
The Budaun rape and murder exposes the everyday reality of sexual violence.
I
n the iconography of rape and sexual violence, the image of two
teenage g irls hanging from a mango tree in Katra Sadatganj
village, Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh (UP), will be long remem-
bered. The image, including the depiction of mute onlookers, tells
us more than what happened on the night of 27 May 2014. The two
cousins went out under cover of darkness to the elds, their only
toilet, as they would have done everyday. Yet this day was not like
every other day as they were dragged away by a group of men, gang-
raped and their ravaged bodies strung up and hung from a tree.
The fact that the two girls belonged to a lower caste, while
their alleged rapists and murderers are of the caste that now
rules UP, reects the dismal reality that caste-based violence is
nowhere near ending in 21st century India. The fact that even as
these men raped and killed the two girls they also chose to hang
their dead and assaulted bodies from a tree tells us how men
from politically powerful castes seek to send out a message to
those they oppress. It also exposes their sense of impunity
because they know their kin hold the reins of political power.
The incident also shows us the complete helplessness of the lower
castes in such situations. When the father of one of the girls
went to the police to report her missing, he was slapped around
and sent back. That the families have demanded, and got, the
government to agree to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
inquiry under these circumstances is hardly surprising.
The Budaun horror is neither the rst nor the last. It is a part
of the story of everyday violence that marks the lives of women,
particularly lower caste women, living in villages and small towns.
These daily episodes of violence escape the scrutiny of the media.
Yet, if one of them does get highlighted, there is a spurt of report-
ing on other such crimes. Thus, within days of the Budaun rape
and murder, many more rapes and assaults were reported: a
19-year-old girl in Gurgaon, an IT professional in Bangalore, a
woman bus conductor in Maharashtra, women in Jharkhand,
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, and West Bengal. Another
woman raped and hung in UP. A woman shot by suspected mili-
tants in Meghalaya for resisting rape. Meanwhile, 80 families
from Bhagana village in Haryana, where four young women
were allegedly raped and then left at a railway station away
from their homes, continue to sit in the scorching heat in Delhi
demanding justice. So Budaun is exceptional and yet it is part of
the depressing and wretched reality of womens lives all over
this country.
Nor is UP the only state with insensitive politicians belonging to
the ruling Samajwadi Party who have no compunction in making
politically inappropriate statements to explain away or justify
rape. They have company, representing men of all political hues
ranging from Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur of
the Bharatiya Janata Party who says rape is sometimes its right,
sometimes its wrong, to another member of his party, Ramsevak
Paikra, Home Minister of Chhattisgarh who suggests that rape
happens by mistake and that nobody commits rape on pur-
pose, to Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil of the Nationalist
Congress Party who thinks that it is impossible to prevent rape
because the majority of rapes occur within homes where police-
men cannot be posted. Furthermore, for Prime Minister Narendra
Modi not to make a statement for days after the Budaun incident
nor reprimand members of his own party for their insensitivity,
also underlines the lack of seriousness in the political class as a
whole towards the escalation of violence against women in India.
Yet, what these politicians are saying, or not saying, reects
the dominant culture of rape and its acceptance in the country.
When a sensational rape is reported, such as the 16 December
2012 Delhi gang rape, or this latest horror from Budaun, inquir-
ies are held, committees are set up, scapegoats are found. Yet
rarely do we see a realistic discussion on the factors contribut-
ing to the culture of rape as is evident from the steady increase
in the number of crimes against women being reported.
What are the factors fuelling the growth and spread of this cul-
ture? Why has so-called modernity not even touched the patriarchal
and misogynist attitudes that encourage successive generations of
Indian men to believe that they are entitled to do as they wish with
women, including those who belong to them? And why, despite
the focus on violence against women in recent years and stronger
laws, are the criminals who commit these crimes not deterred?
The answers to these questions are not simple. They require
serious engagement from policymakers, educationists, media
practitioners and activists. A culture that is so entrenched can-
not be changed overnight. But a dent can be made if we rst ac-
knowledge the nature and the extent of the rape culture and
then identify the small steps that can be taken more effective
policing and implementation of laws, a higher conviction rate,
improved sanitation for women, etc. All this will help but the far
bigger challenge of altering the landscape of mens minds is a
longer journey, one that is difcult yet unavoidable.