Violence against women and children has become a nightmare in the State today. In the past three-four years, the State has witnessed a rapid rise in the number of women murdered cold-bloodedly or subjected to several forms of violence especially sexual in nature. At the same time there is always the fear and apprehension of many more such cases going unreported. Unfortunately, the number of conviction rates in such reported cases is almost negligible. Except for a few high profile cases like the U-Morok rape case, victims and their families continue to hope for justice in most cases as in the alleged murder and rape case of a mother and daughter duo from Phayeng. Three years on since their 38-years old daughter-in-law and teenaged granddaughter were allegedly killed after being raped, an octogenarian and his wife continue to yearn for justice. At the same time, the two are looking after the three children left behind by their daughter in law whose husband had long died in another unfortunate incident. Without going much deeper into the wounds of the family, and reopening old cuts which are still fresh in the minds of the young children left behind and the elders awaiting justice, it is safe to assume that this family is one of many such families suffering a similar fate.
It is a shame that women continue to suffer in a society that takes pride in its meira paibis and ema keithels, and where the likes of Kunjarani, Mary Kom and Rani Gaidinliu had rose to fame through courage, valour and hard work. As much as the increase in such crime rate is a concern, the fact that conviction rates in such crime are very low is also an area of major concern. According to All Manipur Bar Association president Khaidem Mani, the failure to deliver justice in such cases can be attributed to the lengthy and deplorable investigation conducted by the police, lack of witnesses, failure to file charge-sheet in time and lack of evidence in cases where charge-sheets have been filed, as was reported earlier by the IFP.
People should no longer be subjected to any more delay in the delivery of justice and at the same time encourage the government to be zero tolerance towards such crimes. The government should use it`™s machineries to their full potential and ensure speedy trials in such cases. However, as noted earlier, the system works in a much intricate process and any delay in any stage would mean the whole process is delayed. The witnesses need to understand their responsibilities as much as the government machineries like the police and the judiciary in bringing a speedy trial. While the primary prerogative for protecting the rights of the people lies with the State, it is also the duty of the people to support the smooth functioning of the government machineries. However, the solution to the problem lies within the society itself and in fact the process could start from the family by incorporating into the young ones the idea of gender equality.
Leader Writer: Wangkheimayum Bhupendra Singh