Tuesday 19 April 2011

'Family honour' more important than 'justice'

Another one of those stories of misplaced family honour was in The Hindustan Times today. It makes you wonder what is wrong with our value system. A five year old was raped by her 19 year-old cousin. The family came to know about it, but chose to keep quiet in the name of family honour. They probably did not seek medical help for the child and sent her to school. She complained of abdomen pain and died a little later. A complaint with the police was lodged only after she died.

Some hard facts -
The family prizes 'honour' over a member's life. 
The family does not even think the man needs to be punished for the barbaric act.
Female lives are cheap. Especially a little girl's life.
Adults even today find it  tough to argue their case in front of  'family elders'. Reminds one of the khap panchayats ruled by patriarchs where the young  and the women have no say.

Wouldn't the family be held in esteem if its elders had tried to pursue justice for the victim and get the criminal, even if he happens to be from the family, punished?

This case reminded me of an earlier one where a few hits by a shoe was considered enough punishement for a rapist!

2 comments:

Alise said...

Know wonder Indian females seek refuge in the United States and United Kingdom! This is ridiculous and it also shows how ignorant most Indian men really are!!! I wish India would get some sense! It's suppose to be one of the smartest countries, but they sure are acting stupid.

Unknown said...

First, welcome to my blog Alise. In India we do have some peculiar issues, like other countries do. However, I would not say Indian females seek refuge in US and UK. We do appreciate the freedom and opportunities that those societies offer. Barring a few, most of us seek to live in our own country and would like to make it a better place for ourselves and others.

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