The gruesome murder of an eight-year old girl in Rasana village in Hiranagar ( Kathua District) has suddenly attracted the national focus in main-stream and social-media after nearly three months of unfortunate heinous crime involving some brute and perversive element that has shaken the entire society. The heinous crime of raping a minor girl and then brutally murdering her is a dreaded blot in the face of society and condemnable in severest terms. But what happened there after was also shameful and condemnable particularly the way the incident was projected and the involvement of some element in questioning the police investigations. However, a subsequent alleged molestation and rape of a minor girl by a religious teacher at Nagrota did not get attention of all those who have been raising massive outrage.
The way the Congress and NC Legislators raised and pursued the issue in J&K Assembly and subsequent media projection by Kashmir media was having communal overtones and thus was unfortunate for this already polarised state, particularly when the investigation was still going on. Further, the social media mill has added much fuel to the fire of hatred within the regions. In this poisonous war on social media, an objective analysis of one Madhvan Naryanan is reproduced for our readers to ponder over this important aspect of this most painful incident.
We see self-proclaimed intellectuals and crusaders discuss the religion of the victim and perpetrator rather than talking about the bestiality of the crime. Of what happened to that little girl. The pain she suffered. And what we need to do as a society to stop this from happening again. The sheer irony of it is the only thing more unfortunate than the society's misplaced intentions.
The media has also shamelessly revealed the identity of the victim. A criminal offence and an ethical breach of massive proportions. It almost seems like a portion of the society has turned into vultures, waiting for a dead body to feast upon.
While a section of the media is doing what it does best, there are some elements who have also tried to sugar coat the heinous crime because of religious, tribal or political compulsion. That is perhaps as despicable as the crime itself.
There should be no explanation, no excuses and no logic for rape and assault. Any attempts to explain and attribute becomes even more unforgivable when the victim is a child, a child who did nothing to deserve it, a child who often doesn't even understand the violence done to it. Unfortunately, in the society's haste to offer justification and explanations, it is the victims who are often forgotten and their pain and suffering get stacked beneath a long load of political games and media debates.
The eight-year-old girl will never speak, laugh or graze her horses again. The least we could do as a society is to try and make sure no children are harmed on our watch. Sadly, we are more worried about the gods they were supposed to worship and whether their tragedy can help our agenda. We seem to be a long way from redemption.
