Among many other things, Indians first need to unlearn what they believe are the rights of women and give back their right to live freely, without biases, without being judged …

When an Afghani woman is forced to marry her rapist, yes it is definitely painful but not really shocking because women in general are treated badly in that part of the world. But if in a country like India, where women are worshipped and “beti ghar ki Lakshmi” is a common phrase –rapes become a reality and when raped girls are advised to marry their rapists –then one is left wondering if this is a country of hypocrites.

 

An article in WSJ by Tripti Lahiri and Amol Sharma  -points out almost all the faults of the Indian Society and the judicial system concerning women. Wife beating is almost acceptable or most often justified. It is only in India where the husbands are raised to the status of “ parmeshwar” –several songs,  festivals are only based on “pati parmeshwar”.  Nothing wrong in respecting and loving the husband –but the expectation of Indian men to be treated like God-everything is wrong with this sentiment.

 

It is acceptable for the unmarried western woman to have boyfriends and to have indulged in sexual activities. If this young woman decides to marry later, nobody is going to ask her if she is a virgin .Our Indian society is also okay with the Indian men, to have indulged in sex before marriage, but these same men would want to marry only virgins. In fact, the sentence for a rapist who rapes a virgin is different from a rapist who rapes a non-virgin. As if the pain of a rape is different. Why is there so much issue over a small piece of tissue in the Indian society?

Written by Suchitra Sharma