Saturday 21 September 2013

Is society breeding future sex offenders


I have no regrets. We wanted to commit the offence, and we did." This admission of 24-yearold Raja, the eighth accused in the rape of a Bangalore law student, who was caught nearly a

year after committing the crime, sent chills down many a spine. His complete disregard for

humanity and lack of remorse for violating someone's body is shocking, to say the least.

Many would like to believe that we made a difference by making a huge hue and cry about

the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape.

Everyone discussed it at large and even secretly celebrated when one of the accused met a

gruesome death as an under-trial in jail. Since incidents of rape have continued unabated,

the focus is now on what it is that makes men like Raja, who go about their lives unaffected

and feel that there is nothing to apologize for? Being a patriarchal society, are we

unwittingly teaching boys that violence against women is OK? And are we also telling our

girls to bear the shame and suffer in silence? "This is partly true," says clinical

psychologist Dharitri Ramaprasad, adding, "Boys are made to believe that they can do

anything they want.

Boys internalize traits like being dominating and feel that they are all-powerful. As they

grow, they take on those roles, and feel that they have a certain amount of power over the

fairer sex." Though many urban homes look free of abuse on the surface, there is a less inyour-face form of bias that is present. Sons are rarely expected to do chores or help out, for

instance, but girls are frowned upon if they can't cook by a certain age. Girls are also taught

to serve men, and the norm in many homes is for the women to eat after everyone else,

despite labouring for hours in the kitchen. "My father was in no way violent towards my

mother, but she was always the one to eat the burnt roti or wake up early even on holidays.

My mother would tell me to set the table or help out in the kitchen, while my brother was

never asked to do so," says Kamala, a techie.

Can the Indian man's mindset against women change?

"When I brought it up with her, she saw nothing wrong with it. Although these maybe small

incidents, they go a long way in forming gender roles in kids," adds Kamala. A survey by the

Times of India earlier this month found that 70% people feel that Indian man's mindset

towards women cannot change. One man from Delhi even said that it "shouldn't". As the

country progresses, and women assume more significant roles in various industries, what is

it that still makes men view them as nothing more than mere objects? Is it that we have

become used to the way things are and have accepted that women are repressed? "Almost

all my friends have been groped or molested.

Eve-teasing is such a normal part of our lives that we have developed a dangerous tolerance

towards it. A friend of mine was molested by her relative as a child and when he kept at it,

she mustered up the courage to tell her parents. Shockingly her parents advised her to keep

mum and forget about what had happened. She still bumps into him at functions and relives

the trauma each time. It's sickening that her parents were more worried about what people

would say than protecting their child," says Nisha, a college student. Dharitri feels that

social stigma is responsible for this. Parents are afraid that their daughters will get tagged,

and no matter what they do or say, the tag will remain. "The future of the child and her

marriage prospects are what drives parents to brush such incidents under the carpet.

Social stigma keeps family members from discussing abuse," she says. Police revealed that

the accused in the rape of a 22-year-old photojournalist in Mumbai last month habitually

threatened, robbed and raped anyone who came into the Shakti Mills compound. It was

reported that none of them showed any remorse for the crime and went about their daily

activities as if nothing had happened — something that they shared in common with the

NLSIU rape accused — showing that even the fear of the law was not enough to keep them

from asserting their dominance. According to Dharitri, if things are to change, childrenmust

be taught to respect each other at a young age. "And there is some positive change that has

taken place over the years. Women are more independent today than they have ever been. I

believe that the mindset of Indian men can indeed change, but that will take time,"

American woman gang-raped in India

A 30-year-old American woman has been gang-raped in India in the latest in a series of sexual assaults on foreigners in the country.

The attack follows a sexual assault and alleged rape of an Irish gap year student in Calcutta in the last week, the gang rape of a Swiss cyclist in Madhya Pradesh in March and the sexual harassment of a British woman who jumped from her second floor hotel room to escape an assault by the manager in the early hours of the morning.
Police said the woman had been staying in Manali, a popular backpackers' destination in the Himalayan foothills and was returning from a nearby hot spring when she accepted a lift from a trucker after failing to find a taxi.
Instead of taking her to Manali, the driver took her more than ten miles in a different direction where he and two other men raped her.
A spokesman for the United States embassy in New Delhi said it was aware of the case but could not comment. "We are in contact with the authorities but due to issues of privacy we have no further comment," he said.
Superintendent Vinod Kumar Dhawan of Kullu police said the victim was in a state of shock.

Friday 20 September 2013

'No regrets' says man who killed daughter, beheaded her friend for 'family honour'

Rohtak: Two days after a girl was lynched by her own family and a boy publicly beheaded, a conspiracy of silence is heavy in Haryana's village Gharnavati, 80 km from the capital.

As police personnel roam the village, no one is willing to testify against the girl's parents and uncle, who are now in jail. Her brother was arrested today.

"I have no regrets. I'll do it again if I have to," said Billu, the remorseless father of Nidhi Barak, 20, who was beaten to death. Seven members of Nidhi's family, who own a thriving dog-breeding business and even have a shop in south Delhi, allegedly took part in this shocking example of medieval-style killings in the name of 'family honour'.

The parents of Dharmender Barak, 23, have not even filed a police complaint against those who murdered their son - they say the pair got what they deserved. So do others in the village. "If my daughter did this, I would have killed her with my bare hands, no matter what happens to me," said Roshni, a villager.

Nidhi and Dharmender eloped on Tuesday, knowing their families would never consent to their relationship as they belonged to the same village, which, in those parts, means they are brother and sister.

On Wednesday, the young lovers returned to the village, convinced by Nidhi's family that they would not be harmed. (Girl lynched by family, boy beheaded in Haryana village)

At Nidhi's home, her father, brother and uncle allegedly killed her first.

Using farming tools, they allegedly broke Dharmender's arms and legs, stabbed him repeatedly and BilluNidhifathernew295x200.jpgbeheaded him. Dharmender's headless body was dumped outside his home. Inside, his family had refused to come out and help him.

"Can brother and sister marry? It is our duty to punish our children," Dharmender's brother says.

Dharmendra, who came from a family of poor farmers, and Nidhi had been together for three years and went to college in Rohtak. Nidhi was studying fine arts and Dharmender was pursuing a technical course.

When a police team alerted by a villager, arrived, Nidhi's family was trying to cremate her. The police retrieved the girl's half-burnt remains and the boy's body.

Several such young couples have been murdered in villages of Haryana bound by the diktats of lawless, but politically influential 'Khap panchayats' who forbid marriages within the same village or same caste.

In 2011, the Supreme Court had said those behind such killings should face the death penalty.

High-Profile Murder: Neeraj Grover's murder and the arrest of actress Maria Susairaj, her boyfriend JEROME MATHEW

NEERAJ GROVER: He was killed, body cut in pieces, then burnt.
It is surely one of the most talked about high-profile murders in India.

The brutal killing of Neeraj Grover, a TV production house executive, had captured the imagination of the entire country.

Though Grover was killed on May 7, 2008, it had taken a few days before it became clear that he had been murdered.

The body was cut into pieces. It had taken hours for the killer to chop the body parts and then it was stuffed and taken to jungle, where the body parts were set afire.

The incident had hit national headlines as it was nothing short of a crime thriller and it also had the touch of glamour world in it. At the heart of the story was an actor--Maria Susairaj. She was a Kannada movie actress who wanted to try her luck in Bollywood.

Grover who worked as creative director for TV production house, Synergy Adlabs, in Mumbai, went missing in mysterious circumstances. His father Amarnath Grover had lodged a complaint about his son's sudden disappearance.

CRIME RECALL
The middle-aged man had no inkling then that his son had been killed days ago and the killers had tried every bit to conceal the evidences. Maria who hailed from Mysore (Karnataka) had a steady relationship with Jerome Mathew.

Maria Susairaj: Accomplice or just a victim of circumstances!
Mathew, who came from a Catholic Christian family, was a bright student. He joined Navy and was serving at the Kochi base.

After his engagement, Mathew was getting more possessive about Maria, who was struggling to get a role in TV serials in Mumbai.

It was a phone call that led to the turn of events which devastated three families.

When Jerome called up his fiancee (Maria), who was at her home, she picked up the phone. Jerome heard Neeraj's voice in the background. He got suspicious.

Though Maria tried to clear up things, the possessive boyfriend wasn't satisfied.

 He put down the phone and immediately took the flight from Kochi to Mumbai. Oblivious to his impending arrival, Maria and Neeraj were having fun at the flat.

Neeraj was helping Maria settle in the world of show biz. She also needed important contacts in the film industry. Neeraj Grover was getting close to her. They were spending the night together when the call came and the possessive Jerome flew down to Mumbai in the next couple of hours.

When Jerome knocked the door, they didn't expect it. They had been physically intimate that night. When Jerome saw Neeraj, allegedly without a shred of clothes on his body, inside the house, he had an argument. Infuriated, Jerome used the kitchen knife to stab Neeraj in cold blood.

After the murder, he allegedly kept cutting the body into pieces. Later, he allegedly had sexual intercourse with Maria. The question was how to dispose off the body. Maria got a car from a friend and the 'body' was stuffed in a sports bag, taken to a desolate place at Manor where it was burnt.

Lieutenant Jerome Mathew got 10 yrs jail for the murder

But the search for Grover soon landed them in police net. Cell phone records proved that Neeraj had spent the night at her flat.

As evidences kept piling up, the story behind the spine chilling murder came out in the open. Both were arrested. The trial began in the case.

The Mumbai court.held Grover guilty and gave him ten years of rigorous imprisonment. In light of the serious nature of crime, the prison term may appear light but the reason was judge felt that seeing the fiancee in company of another person, was surely a provocation.

Maria Susairaj got away rather lightly. She was charged with destruction of evidence. She had three years to serve in jail. During the course of trial, she was incarcerated and hence, she didn't have to stay behind bards for long, and came out. Her lawyer had argued that she was just a victim of the circumstances.

The deceased, Neeraj Grover's father, Amarnath Grover, continues to fight, hoping that the higher court would give a stern punishment to Maria and Jerome. The Grover family that lives in Kanpur has been fighting the battle to get justice for their son.

Sex scandal in Madhya Pradesh: Minister RAGHAVJI sacked for sodomy, making a youth his 'sex slave' after CD exposes himSex scandal in Madhya Pradesh: Minister RAGHAVJI sacked for sodomy, making a youth his 'sex slave' after CD exposes him

In India, media generally avoided the personal life of the politicians and avoid high-profile sex scandals but the situation is changing and the CD that exposed MP minister Raghavji sodomising his employee has led to a storm in political circles.

Raghavji, 78, is accused of not just sodomy but turning the youth, Rajkumar Dangi, into his sex slave.

There are 22 CDs that were filmed secretly and all of them show the BJP leader in sexual act with the 29-year-old man.

Dangi claimed he was promised job with the public service commission but instead he was given a job at a liquor company office. Raghavji called him 'Rajkumari' (princess) and had unnatural sexual acts with him regularly, he said. The victim said that he was shattered because the old man seemed to be 'never tired of sex'.

The CD shows minister sodmizing Dangi in his official residence. The youth massages him, then engages in oral sex and later minister commits unnatural sexual intercourse with him twice. Another CD shows the minister doing the same in a moving train.

Dangi said that he was made to live on the premises of the minister's house. "When I would get fed up, doing the dirty things and felt like vomiting, he would ask me to go to bathroom, wash my mouth and again come back to suck and do other things".

"I Had No Personal Life Left"

The complainant said that he had no personal life left. "When I went anywhere, the gunman was sent to call me and phone would also reach". The ministers' staff members also sodomised him. They have also been booked by the police.


The victim said that even in car, he would be made to sit with him and asked to perform with hands or other ways. Three years of sexual slavery had made his life miserable.

But how the old man got such energy that he would have other youths and also women for his sexual gratification. Other than Dangi, another youth also recorded his statement at the police station.

Policemen said that the complainant tells about some tablets which he ate many times in the day. A BJP leader Shiv Shankar Pateria made the CD, secretly recording it to expose the 'sleaze in the party'. Now Raghavji and his staff members have been booked and face arrest.

Raghavji was a respected political figure in MP. His name is Raghav Sanvla and he belongs to a Gujarati Jain family which settled in Vidisha. He held the portfolio of finance ministry. Raghavji has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for decades.

One of the senior most leaders, his involvement in homosexual practices have left the BJP red-faced. The gay sex expose has hurt the image of the BJP also as Congress is now training its guns on the Saffron party for its 'culture'. BJP has sacked him and also expelled him from party. But he remains MLA at least for this term.