In the last two months, there have been two horrific crimes in Gujarat. In both cases, the victim was an innocent girl. Saghira, who was sitting with her friend on a public road divider, was gang-raped by three men late at night in Vadodara city. After suffering inhuman torture, the victim still survived. All three accused were caught. Two of the five who had escaped earlier were also caught. Another case is that of nineteen-year-old Heena Solanki, a resident of Naroda. A father there strangled his stepdaughter to death near the Narmada Canal on the Vadodara-Halol highway. His nephew supported him in this crime. The family members present at the scene looked dumbfounded. At midnight, the dead girl was taken to the crematorium and burnt. A good word like cremation is not used here, because this was just another crime to cover up one crime. The accused have been caught in this incident as well. Both crimes are reprehensible, but out of the outrage that arose in the entire society against the Vadodara incident, not one-tenth of the outrage was expressed against the other crime. Rape by more than one person is called gangrape, but murder by more than one person can be called gangmurder? And that too when family members have done it? People who rap on Sagira in Vadodara were unaware of it. In another incident, the murderers were the people of the house. It was the girl's own father who strangled her with her own clothes, and her cousin who held her hands to prevent her from escaping. In a car parked nearby were close and distant acquaintances of the deceased, including his sister. People of the same socio-religion are also among those demanding capital punishment for the accused of the Vadodara gangrape. The women of that community came forward and supported the victim. The family, the society, the police, the government system, all are now standing by the minor, but who will seek justice for the nineteen-year-old Heena who was burnt in Bakrol? Many people have put him in the cage of the accused. There is even sympathy for killers among a section of society. He said, 'If a girl does such a thing, what else can the poor parents do?' What did the girl do? So she fell in love with a boy from her own society, which was not approved by her family. Taking courage, both of them ran away from the house. If caught, they ran away the second time. Again the police caught them and handed the girl over to her father. Heena, who was determined to marry her lover, knew what to do now, but her father planned to kill her, automatically assuming that daughter Nakik would run away for the third time, and go across the house in the society. And in this he got the support of his own family. I don't like such a girl! And before doing that, the father took him to another village to see his mother. As if killing a daughter was a great socio-religious act and the blessings of the goddess were to be sought for it. In Vadodara, the accused preyed on an innocent girl to satisfy their drunken lust. He must be behind bars right now. Heena's father killed his daughter to maintain his reputation in the society. But would he really regret what he did? There are many people like him in India, who are not sorry for doing so, but rather proud. And here it is not just a question of the honor of the house. Arrogance of such elders also plays a part, why can our children marry someone against our will? Also, talking about Gujarat, here the ruling party is also with them. This is the only state government in the country that wants to bring such a strange law that parental consent should be mandatory even for love marriages. There are hundreds of people who consider themselves not the parents but the owners of their children. In the matter of marriage, only Johukami runs. A girl in love gets beaten up at home. The likable character willingly brings back a runaway girl and is forced to file a false case of cheating and rape against his own loved one. In many cases, both are killed by their own families. So sometimes scared lovebirds commit suicide. The crime of inciting or forcing suicide is never registered on the people of his house. The police also behave well with them. Politicians talking about the safety of daughters outside the home do not talk about justice or security for the same daughters inside the home. There is no doubt that our demand that the victim gets justice in the Vadodara case soon will be fulfilled. They must be punished severely, but what will happen to Heena Solanki's killer? Will they get proper punishment? Or will people be ready to attack them as heroes who saved Indian culture, family reputation, and clan?
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
