Capital Punishment

I was a fourteen-year-old girl when I attended my first carnival. We moved into a new city after my dad passed away. I came to the carnival along with my pregnant mother and her brother. The place was crowded and bustling and we arrived at the carnival at its rush hour. We had to squeeze ourselves into the crowd to go from one place to another. I was soon lost in the crowd and by the time my mum realised this I was long gone. 

I tried to shout but with loud carnival music, my tiny throat stood no chance. My mum told me about the announcement booth in case I get lost in the carnival but with the thick crowd, I could not find the booth. I roamed around for some time with dried up tears on my cheeks. Two teenagers who looked like college students came up to me and asked why I was crying. I told them I got lost and they told me they will take me to the announcement booth. I believed them and went inside a room that did not look like a booth. After entering the room both of them made a random conversation with me while they started to massage my shoulder. I knew that they weren’t up to no good and tried to get out of the room but one of them caught me and tried to smell my hair when a middle-aged man came from behind and knocked their teeth out. I started to cry when the man hugged me and promised to take me to my mum. Both of us together searched for my mum for hours, announced about me but all was in vain. 

The middle-aged man told me to come to his home for the night. I reluctantly told yes. We reached his home and he told me to go and sit on the sofa. He turned on the TV and switched the channel to a kids channel and gave me the remote. The house looked like a bachelor’s and I asked him if there was anyone else in the house. He replied yes with a grin on his face which made me uncomfortable. I asked if he could inform the police about me to which he said the police won’t be helpful. I got a little suspicious. I ran to the front door and realised it was locked. Seeing me nervous, the middle-aged man ran after me. I ran upstairs to the terrace of the house where I was cornered. I knew his intentions by then and was determined to escape. I pretended to cry and hug him. He raised his arm to touch my shoulder while I dodged and ran towards the end of the terrace. I jumped onto the terrace of the next building and escaped. I rejoined with my mother the next day and later I came to know that the middle-aged guy left the house before the police could find the location of his house. The middle-aged man was caught after weeks but the two teenagers were not seen after that. It was worrisome to me to this date that two sexual predators are out in the open looking to pounce on innocent girls at any given time. 

I did not sleep that night. Questions kept me awake the following nights as well. 

What if I was not an athletic girl?

What if I was a girl who did not have an interest in sports? 

What if I was a physically or mentally challenged girl?

What if there were no terrace to the house?

What if I could not initially escape the teenagers?

Women’s safety in my country is either disregarded or it is just a topic to speak about in debate to get more views on social media. I was grateful for how lucky I was that day at the same time my heart felt heavy when I realised the girls before I would not have been as lucky. When I grew up I started an organisation for victims known as PNSB which stood for Prevention of Non-consensual Sexual Behaviour. Through this organisation, not only I want to stop rape, but I also want to stop any kind of inappropriate touching where both men and women are the victims. Since the entire country faced or heard the same issue as me, I got enormous support from everyone. I ignored all the babbling buffoons who are ‘only talks’ and I started to collaborate with people who actually wanted to make a change about women’s safety. We live in a society where it teaches us how not to get raped instead of not to rape. Instead of giving the death penalty to the rapist people invent products known as the anti-rape device which stops the perpetrator from engaging in sexual intercourse. Good invention. Physical harm is avoided. What about the psychological trauma the girl has to face?

I made my goals and visions clear to the people who joined my organisation. PNSB does not achieve victory when rape is stopped, we achieve victory when the mentality of rape is eliminated from all men and women. 

That day I planned out my entire life in detail and how I need to execute my goal. To stop rape, the first step is to change the law and make the death penalty the punishment for rape across states with no discretion given to the accused. To do that I would have to climb the ladder in politics and become a LokSabha member. I had to pass the bill for the death penalty for rape and it needs to be passed with a majority in both houses. It was sad and upsetting for me that I as a single person or the voters of the politicians as a unit can't change anything and we are dependent on corrupt politicians for this. As years went by I knew that this is a very difficult mission of mine and it might end up in failure hence I needed to find a backup. I needed people who could carry my will and fire to stop the injustice. Luckily through God's grace, my brother’s kids came forward to support the cause and my own son changed his career mid-way honoring his mother’s wishes to become a politician.

Today I am 40 years old and it is my last day at the Lok Sabha. I have raised the bill and it has been rejected for the fourth time in Rajya Sabha, this time with a difference of 7 votes. I was disheartened but I knew that my followers can raise the bill once again and can close the gap of 7 votes. Even though I failed at my task due to the limits of my health condition, I will continue to be an active participant in the cause.

 I  tried my best and have done my part. Are you going to do yours?