Rana castigates state govt for extending no financial help to the 13 yr old rape survivor

While the nation celebrates the International Women’s Day, crime against women like obnoxious rapes and sexual molestations have almost become the order of the day with the graph of shameful rapes and subsequent molestations on the steady rise.

This seems to be disgusting. While the capital like Delhi is not able to control this increasing menace despite the best efforts of police, law enforcing agencies, NGOs, women bodies and powers that be, even the state symbolising itself as the land of abode of Gods like Uttarakhand is badly in the grip of this menace. The reason being that 90% of such cases of rapes take place in the same vicinity of the victim through her close accquaintance or those known to her like the neighbours, friends and the near and dear ones, even teachers.

But what is more horrifying is the fact that the cases of rapes of the incest and adoloscense are also on the rise with majority of the incidents not being reported due to the social stigma attached as parents are scared of disclosing such incidents for being outcasted from the society or with the fear of confronting problems in marrying them in future.

One such shockingly horrifying case was witnessed in Nainbagh, Garhwal, Uttarakhand about six months ago where a poor and haplesss girl of just thirteen years of age and student of class tenth in a local school was repeatedly raped by her own teacher who finally gave birth to an infant who is now six months old. The culprit teacher is behind the bars after being caught and medically examined.

There is every possibility of the culprit getting stringent sentence for life. The victim who belongs to a poor family has a doomed future with a six month old daughter having no source of income and resources to tame the future of the new born.

The former minister of Uttarakhand, a sports promotor and father of the international shooter Jaspal Rana, Narayan Singh Rana is currently trying to help the rape survivor with every possible financial help and other modes of support. She being an adoloscent had give up her education in between and her academic career badly affected.

In the absense of any monetory suport and social stigma attached, the victimised rape survivor is in acute socio financial doldrums with nobody except the former minister and sport enthusiast Narayan Singh Rana at their service, with financial support as a responsible elder.

In such cases of adoloscent rapes the department of women and child welfare, the state women commission, child welfare committees and the NGOs should wholeheartedly come forward to help the distressed victims with the maximum financial compensation including counselling to make the rape victim more confident to shape her future life with hope and optimism.

After the dreaded Nirbhaya episode in Delhi in 2012/13 the government of India had launched a Nirbhaya fund to come to the aid of rape survivors, The Nirbhaya Fund which started from Rs 1000 crores is now worth of Rs. 4000 crores.

If it can’t come to the rescue of such rape survivors that what’s the use of launching the fund and publiscising so much about it to gain political mileage. In India, particularly in rural areas, there are hundreds of thousands of such cases of rapes with incests and adoloscents with majority of the cases, either going unreported or not taken care of by the authorities, concerned. The rape survivors have no option but to remain confided within four walls resigned to their fate. The case of the 13 year old rape survivor of Nainbagh, Garhwal, Uttarakhand suffering for survival, is enough to bring home the point that the Nirbhaya Fund Corpus is just a name sake and nothing more.

The central and state governments should devise a law to take the entire responsibility of the survival and career making of the rape survivor and her children in their hands or adequately compensate them, financially so as to enable them stand on their feet, confidently. What do you say friends?
SUNIL NEGI, PRESIDENT, UTTARAKHAND JOURNAKISTS FORUM