Nagaland mob lynching: an unacceptable act of public violence

A very disturbing event happened a few days back in Nagaland. An angry mob of around 7 or 8 thousand people attacked Dimapur Central Jail, they dragged a rape accused out of jail, paraded that person naked, and then beat him to death. Many people participated and witnessed this mob lynching incident. Many were also seen recording this event or taking photos of the dead person to post on social media. This mob didn't stop after killing the accused, they displayed his body at the local clock tower supposedly to teach a lesson to all people who commit such type of crimes. Many people shared this incident with gruesome photos to justify the punishment offered to the accused and demanded that only this type of punishment deter people from committing such crimes. I have seen many people advocating punishments like public hanging or public torture till death as ways of teaching a lesson to criminals, they all feel that such punishments will serve as deterrents and stop such crimes. 

Frustrated and misguided people taking the law into their own hands is always a dangerous sign for any society. A lawless society is a dangerous place to live and there are so many reasons why any society might choose to use such desperate means to deliver what they think is speedy justice. In India, the ridiculously lengthy and slow process of delivering justice in each and every case is one of the major reasons why people don't have faith in the police and judiciary. I guess everyone will agree that heinous crimes like rape and murder need speedy trials and strict punishments so that they can create fear in the minds of perpetrators of such crimes. The slow and tedious process of justice with many loopholes that allow criminals to escape the law or delay the process indefinitely puts victims in a very disadvantageous position. Victims of rape especially suffer a long and agonizing journey to get justice from such a severely impaired judiciary of India and one must include investigating agencies also in this. We all know that justice delayed means justice denied and when it becomes a chronic problem people start losing their faith in the system. The result is that people take the law into their own hands and there is a jungle raj. Unfortunately, none of the state or national governments tried to do anything substantial to correct this problem. Judicial or police reforms are not even a topic of discussion during any state or national elections. Sexual violence is such a serious issue but it hardly gets the attention it deserves in any political or social forum in India. Everyone knows that rapes happen very frequently and many rapists escape the law using muscle, power, money, or influence. This problem is not going to disappear on its own, there is no point in pushing the issue under the carpet. It is also wrong to assume that this is only a women's issue. Sexual violence is as much a men's issue as it is women's as both of them are involved either as victims or perpetrators. 

Any incident like this is a result of a serious failure of government machinery at various levels. I don't think that any such violent act can be justified by using any logic or reasoning, it is totally unacceptable behavior. Public lynching of any accused or convict is not a way to deliver justice in any civilized society. There is a system to deliver justice and execute punishments. I hope this acts as an eye-opener for all concerned agencies dealing with law and order in India. They need to create a sense of trust in people's minds that justice and investigating machinery are fair and efficient. They need to provide proof by their actions that these systems are working for people to solve their issues and problems not to exploit their helplessness. If victims of any crime get all the required support from all these departments they won't be at the mercy of mobs to protest and demand justice for them. Why do these departments only get active after huge protests or nationwide outrage after any rape or murder? Why do some case gets really shoddy handling which results in the acquittal of all accused just because they belong to some powerful or influential families? Such incidents create a serious dent in the credibility of all these departments and create fertile ground for violent and desperate reactions from people. Let's hope that this incident doesn't inspire people from other places to use similar methods to deliver their own justice, if this happens it will be a catastrophic situation at every level and I hope the concerned authorities are aware of it. This act of public lynching is unacceptable and so is the inability of the justice system to deliver timely resolution to heinous crimes like rape and murder.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Mob drags alleged rapist out of jail in Nagaland, thrashes him to death

Rohtak brave hearts and issue of eve teasing

The Video of two sisters thrashing eve-teasers in Rohtak city bus has gone viral in Indian news and social media. Everyone must stand up for their own rights, against any injustice, torture, or harassment. These girls did the right thing if these boys were continuously harassing them and were not willing to listen even after repeated warnings or requests. When I heard their interview on NDTV then it was disturbing to know that in a city bus full of men and women no one dared to help these girls when a few boys were trying to molest them. This bystander approach is really worrisome, and we see this attitude almost everywhere where people silently witness wrong things happening in front of their eyes. They choose to ignore them or choose to keep silent because they think it is not their business, after all, they are not victims so why should they react. It was also disturbing when during the interview one of the sisters advised all the girls that if they face a similar situation then they should beat the guy who dares to tease them as much as they want or until they are satisfied before taking him to the police. I think this advice is more emotional than practical. Violence is not the only option to resist any harassment, there are many other nonviolent ways to resist. Also, there should be a proper investigation of this incident before jumping to any conclusion by knowing only one side of the story.

The real issue here is the teasing and harassment of girls in public places. The problem of eve teasing or taunting in public places is very common in India as well as many other countries (I even see it in the US also). This is a serious issue and needs attention from people as well as law enforcement agencies. Confronting the wrongdoers like eve-teasers or molesters is the right thing to do. Every boy or girl has the right to stand up for their rights and fight for their safety. Under extreme situations where nothing else works use of force should be exercised as an option. There is no doubt that wrongdoers should be confronted so that they don't think that they can get away with such behavior easily. But to thrash them every time is not a solution to stop these things from happening. I think this girl might have said this because she was very angry because of this episode, but whenever the media telecasts something like this they should also give warnings about the dangers of violence. This interview should not send the wrong message to the youths of India that they can take the law into their own hands and punish people if they think that something wrong is happening. Every effort should be made to handle the situation by avoiding violence. This is why we have rules and laws. If people make their own decisions and try to punish wrongdoers on the spot then why do we need to have any law or justice system?  We can just let people punish wrongdoers in whatever way they feel appropriate, but we all know that this is not a practical and logical approach to handling any crime. 

Violence might look like a viable solution to solve any issue temporarily but hardly it works to find a long-term solution. Right to use force should be exercised whenever the situation demands it, but if possible, it should be considered as the last option. One can be assertive and forceful without the use of any physical force. If many boys and girls take inspiration from this incident and stand up or speak up whenever they see any such misbehavior then it is a good thing. But if they start indulging in physical fights to solve issues like this then one can only imagine the chaos which we might have to deal with. So, let's ignore this particular sentence from the interview and focus on the courage to fight misbehavior and stand up against any harassment. Hopefully, this incident will inspire people in the right way. Once we all start raising our voices against such things then automatically it will send a strong message to these molesters or wrongdoers.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Rohtak sisters thrash men who harassed them on moving bus
2. OTHER SIDE OF ROHTAK BRAVEHEARTS