Rape: Where has Justice gone?

After the noise, is there nothing left to be done?

Morung Express Feature 
Dimapur | May 26 

There was deep outrage, condemnation and sheer disgust from the public of Nagaland when the news of a spate of rape was reported in the media in the recent times. Some of the criminals are behind bars, while others are absconding. However, concrete justice continues to elude the victims for the crimes committed against them. Till now it is unsure how many of the accused have been convicted so far, under judicial custody or how many are under suspicion or more importantly, how many rape cases go unreported. 

Of late, the crime of rape has been increasing, and the Naga public has not welcomed it warmly, not that they should. Besides, the brutality and the perversion associated with rape, the victims and the people seeking justice have been left helpless thanks to long process of investigations and court proceedings, the interference of so-called “customary laws.” ‘Customary laws’ do not have any clear-cut provisions with regard to rape, except for expulsion of the accused or guilty for a specific period of years from a village or area. Concerned people have questioned this “customary law” for the very reason that a rapist expelled from an area can always go to another and commit the same crime. Likewise, concerned people have expressed that expelling or putting a rapist under “judicial custody” is not justice at all. 

Be it the infamous Showuba “Maruti Swift Rape Case” of August 28, 2008 or the rape and murder of Anukampa Dhan, a class IX student of Carmel School Dimapur, August 17 – justice has yet to be. While in the former, three out of the four accused is said to be under judicial custody; in the latter, nine of the suspects involved in the murder is said to be on bail, with police “investigations” making no headway as usual.  This year too, citizens were caught with shock with the despicable  gang-rape and ‘attempted murder’ on March 25 at Darogapather,  the April 1 rape of a minor girl in Dimapur and  the April 11 rape case of Zunheboto.

As is the now-usual response to any crime, there was mass outpouring of condemnation. And sadly, the rape stories and the journey seem to have ended just there.  

While many concerned Naga citizens have mocked the new culture of “paper wars” –-where opposing parties hit out at each other through the print media – others see it as a means to either win or lose a cause. 

“We have decided not to reply to any of the press statement regarding to the case,” said a Sumi Totimi Hoho leader fighting for the April 11 rape case in Zunheboto, “It will just give some leverage to the other party.”  “Giving out press releases or press condemnation is just a way to gain fifteen minutes of fame (for the organizations),” commented a journalist. 

However, the most disturbing aspect is the silence of the public, all of a sudden, after a few weeks of outrage expressed. There were also the rallies organized while civil society leaders moved around meeting district administration leaders, the police and even Naga underground functionaries. Some women leaders even questioned the silence of the church with regard to the issue. 

It has been a few weeks since the Naga society came to terms with the shock. Now the society is still awaiting justice; condemnations in the Press have died down, the police as usual continue the now familiar chorus of “investigation is on”; the underground outfits say that they cannot hand over the rapists to the state administrations; the society keeps finding other pressing issues to tackle. 

At the end, the question remains, are Naga society even ready to tackle the crime called rape? The answer, though discouraging, surely would lie at the way earlier rape cases were handled. It is time, perhaps for a concrete action and not mere talk.