Nagaland, Mob lynches rapist to death Taking Law Into our own hands: Is this the new law?

In response to the rape of a naga woman In Dimapur, Nagaland, yesterday a 10,000 strong mob forced themselves inside the police station and dragged out the alleged rapist. They then paraded him naked on the street and later lynched him to death.

Within hours after the incident Social networking sites have been flooded with tons of comments and tweets, most of them coming out in support of the attack.

The big question arises. Is this the only way? Countless cases of rapes and many other sexual harassments faced by women everyday is a growing epidemic in this nation, but the biggest reason why this tumor just got bigger is because our law follows the turtle’s principle of the slow and steady way, only here there is no sign of a finishing line.

Ministers and police officials call the act as a criminal offense. People throughout India hail them as heroes.  So who is right?

Let’s go back to the Nirbhaya Case. The case which shocked the nation. What happened then? All the 6 rapists were caught immediately, they faced trial and were given the death sentence, good. However one of them who was claimed to be the most violent turned out to be a juvenile and was sentenced only 3 years by a juvenile court. Their lawyers like Manohar Lal Shastri made derogatory statements about the victim and blamed her and her boyfriend for the rape. The parents of the victim appealed for changing the adult age limit from 18 to 16 so that the juvenile culprit could face a harsher punishment but were unsuccessful. More over in the controversial documentary made by BBC which our govt. has banned for God knows what reason, the rapists were not at all sorry for their actions and blamed the girl instead. The court even granted them the chance to appeal against their conviction by staying their execution.

Yes something little good came out from this hell. The government created six new fast track courts, and many other women became brave enough to lodge complains, good. However, the idea of the fast track court had already begun in 2000 and it was no different in terms of swiftness than any other normal courts in India. Between 16 of December 2012 and 4 January 2013, Of all the 500 plus allegations of harassment and 64 cases of rape, only fewer than 15 percent went into trial, the remaining 85 were still in the waiting line. As of April 2014, there were about 1,374 rape cases that were still pending in these courts.

So in a quick evaluation of the mob attack in Nagaland and the Slow and steady judicial system including the slow and steady fast track courts, the result is evident.

The support shown by the rest of India clearly unifies us as a nation which is tired of seeing injustices not just in rape but in other crime related offences as well.

The mob attack in my perspective was wrong as we become no better than the criminals but what would you expect from the people, the same people who vote their leaders for a change, for a better tomorrow the same people who walk the streets where the cops and goons are alike, that narrow street which is their only way home filled with criminals who fear the crossing of a black cat than the so called justice system of India, what would you expect when their leaders and protectors don’t give a crap at all!