No man is an island

The Ruchika case is not news to most people anymore. And almost all of us want that smug, self-righteous, pompous smirk wiped off from Rathore's face. But is that enough? does that mean justice is served?

What about all the bureaucrats who failed to act on time to the various investigative reports that were filed? What about the policemen who acted like brainless goons and followed Rathore's instructions to lock up and beat up Ruchika's brother? What about all the politicians - Chief Ministers, Home Ministers and so on - who consistently ignored the case and kept promoting Rathore till he became the DGP of Haryana? What about the stupid, antiquated, inadequate laws that allow the punishment for something like this to be as minimal as six months, and then let the guy off on bail? What about the courts that threw out the complaint of abetting suicide when it was filed by the CBI?

In fact, in general, what about the unholy nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, influential/ rich people and the police which makes sure that they mutually agree to keep each other out of trouble? The Delhi government agreed to let Manu Sharma out on bail on a fake plea by him, not even bothering to check it out. And this is a guy that shot a girl at point blank range for refusing to serve him a drink, and got away with it for years, and only put him back behind bars when there was a media and public outcry. That Vikas Yadav is out on bail for attending his sister's wedding - that same sister whose romance with Nitish Katara caused Vikas and his thuggish friends to burn the poor boy to death. That Sanjeev Nanda who drunkenly mowed down 6 pavement dwellers mercilessly is out after serving barely two years, that too after initially being acquitted and then being convicted only after a public outcry. After the Soumya Viswanathan case, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit made an amazingly Pilate-like and insensitive comment about how women 'should not be adventurous', putting the blame back where politicians and their ilk believe it belongs - with the victim, not the assailant.

It's disgusting and scary to see how in each and every case that involves someone with political connections or money, justice is thwarted and subverted, with everyone from the judiciary to the politicos and the cops working overtime to let the culprit off easy. It's appalling that in each of the above cases, it was only after a public outcry and notice being taken by the media that any action was taken, more out of fear of public reprisals at election time and bad PR than any genuine desire to take action and make sure that India is equally safe for everyone - rich or poor, male or female.

Mera Bharat Viraan, indeed!

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