Rape survivors need a helping hand

Sushil Manav

In July 2016, a Dalit student in Rohtak was gang-raped by the same five men who had raped her three years ago. After the 2013 incident in Bhiwani, the girl’s family was forced to move to Rohtak since the accused continued to threaten them to coerce them to agree to a compromise.

Now, a victim, who was gang-raped by three youths, including an Army jawan, in a Rewari village in September last year, wants migration from Government College, Nagar (Rewari), to pursue BSc from Kurukshetra University because people ‘taunt’ her .

The Nirbhaya gang-rape in Delhi had evoked huge sympathy for the victim across the nation with people holding candlelight processions for justice for her. The public outrage at the time of the Nirbhaya incident had held out an assurance that our society would show the same sensitivity every time an innocent victim is targeted and will sympathise with her. However, it has been noticed in some recent cases in Haryana that society instead has sometimes tormented them.

Jagmati Sangwan, a former Director of Women Studies at Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and president of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association, says that more than society, it is the administration that is responsible for insensitivity towards rape survivors.

She says as far as the Rewari rape survivor is concerned, some local people close to the families of the accused were trying to make the victim as well her family feel unsafe.

“Actually, the state authorities should come forward to support rape survivors. The victim’s family had sought an appointment with the Chief Minister, but it did not materialise. The government could have offered a job to the gang-rape survivor. At the personal level, we tried our best to ensure that she could be adjusted in some quota for jobs, but in vain,” says Sangwan. She adds that the victim could not even be shifted to AIIMS when she needed treatment.

Sangwan, however, says that society in general cannot be blamed for not being supportive to rape survivors, as generally people support them. “But in villages, people sometimes align with the families of the accused to terrorise the victim’s family so that they do not pursue justice. We cannot blame the whole society for this,” she adds. 

Rajeshwari Jaglan, Professor and Chairperson of Geography Department in Kurukshetra University, says that the survival of rape victims or the chances of their leading a normal life in a society like ours is full of challenges. 

“The consequences are not only physical hurt but tremendous emotional and mental sufferings. The patriarchy acts in a very dangerous manner and uneasy public gaze, and comments are the public expression of this mindset. The consequences are not only limited to their restricted mobility and participation as a citizen; it inhibits their growth. Further, stress, anxiety, fear, shame, withdrawal from public activities, self-denial, poor self-esteem, and depression are also the consequences and these take a heavy toll on the survived victims,” she adds.

Rajeshwari says that the inherent antipathy of the patriarchal society towards women compounds the sufferings of victims and poses a huge challenge to letting them lead a normal life of respect. “Very little evidences are there and one may not find even one instance in Haryana where society is seen making efforts to heal the scars of rape victims,” she adds.