THE story of the 14-year old girl from Rupganj is appalling. The girl is struggling to recover from the burn wounds inflicted on her by a neighbour. One more budding life has been shattered by the acid throwers, whose inability to place human life above satisfying their beastly instincts has for a pretty long time been an area of major concern.What is particularly shocking is that despite the seminars and meetings, which are held to highlight the plight of women in society, and desperate appeals by women's rights activists to put an end to this barbaric practice, acid throwing is still a potent weapon often used to punish girls when they turn down any amorous overture.
So screw the seminars and meetings. Start dumping your own acid down Mahmoud's pants and maybe he'll get the point.
There is no social resistance against the elements harassing and oppressing women. And there is no response from the community leaders and law enforcers to such ghoulish activities. The girl has complained that she was being harassed for long two years, yet her helpless parents could not do anything against the criminal who finally threw acid on their daughter. Is this how innocent girls are treated anywhere in the civilised world? Can the law enforcers evade the responsibility of having failed to protect the girl? Obviously, the law enforcers are known for such failures, but that puts society as a whole to shame
The women's rights activists are doing as much as they can to let us know that women are far from safe in our social context. Some of the acid victims have been rehabilitated, but the highly disquieting question is, will our sisters and daughters remain perpetually exposed to this kind of barbarism? How long shall we have to remain satisfied with what is being said to explain the failures of those that are supposed to protect? Or is it that most of the victims belong to poor families and, as such, the need for enforcing the law strictly is not being felt?
The acid throwers deserve no mercy and no amount of condemnation is enough to describe the enormity of the crime. The culprits must be given exemplary punishment and the law enforcers and local community leaders should be asked to explain why they couldn't do anything to stop acid throwing.