{"id":3921,"date":"2014-12-09T10:42:13","date_gmt":"2014-12-09T05:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=3921"},"modified":"2014-12-20T12:01:23","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T06:31:23","slug":"uber-case-rape-is-not-a-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2014\/politics\/uber-case-rape-is-not-a-mistake.html\/","title":{"rendered":"Uber Case – Rape is Not a “Mistake”"},"content":{"rendered":"

India labors under the misconception that rape is something that “happens” as much to the criminal, as to the victim. Remember the Shakti Mills Mumbai gang rape<\/a> involving a photojournalist? The mother of the perpetrator said “What was my son supposed to do? He lost control”. Oh poor boy! – He’s the victim here. Why did that woman have to be alone at that place? Why was she dressed like that? Why was she out with a guy?<\/p>\n

The same bullshit questions were asked about the Nirbhaya case as well. What was she doing out so late etc etc. And now, with an Uber cab driver confessing to sexual assault, his words are “I made a mistake. What do I do?”<\/p>\n

Notice the common thread running through all these statements? They all involve either society or the criminals themselves pretending rape “happens”. Like a force of nature. Like accidentally brushing against a vase and breaking it. “Oops, I made a mistake!”<\/p>\n

Let’s accept first and foremost, that a crime like rape requires a lot of forethought. During the Mumbai case, the criminals coordinated to meet each other at a certain time and place. In the Nirbhaya incident, these guys were deliberately seeking out victims and Nirbhaya wasn’t even their first one that night!<\/p>\n

The Uber case? The guy made a deliberate choice to divert the cab, made a careful and calculated assessment of the victim’s ability to respond and defend herself, and finally threatened her to keep quiet.<\/p>\n

Are these the characteristics of a “mistake”? Does a mistake involve detailed planning of the event well before it takes place? Does a considered cover up and hiding of evidence qualify as a “mistake”? Here’s a thought – why did the cab driver wait to be caught? As soon as he realized his “mistake”, he should have come and confessed to the police right? After all, it was just a mistake. In the heat of the moment!<\/p>\n

These two conflicting versions highlight the disparity between how rapists and society think<\/em> and what reality IS. On the on hand, a shocking number of people like to pretend that rapists are a victim of circumstances. On the other hand, reality shows that nothing is “accidental” and that each step of a rape is chillingly planned – sometimes even days<\/em> in advance.<\/p>\n

Notice how those who justify the rape by saying they “lost control”, are careful only to attack vulnerable women who are either alone, or unable to successfully fight back. Their “control” is fully functional and obvious if they can’t get away with it! No – they only lose control when it’s safe.<\/p>\n

Words like “mistake”, “lost control” etc. are symptomatic of we as Indians, refusing to take and place responsibility solely<\/em> on the rapist. It is they and ONLY they, who are responsible for their actions. They cannot be excused by saying it was a mistake. They cannot be excused by saying the lost control. It doesn’t MATTER what the woman was wearing, or where she was, or who she was with.<\/p>\n

Even if a woman is walking naked at 3:00 am at night on the road<\/strong>, she should expect to not be molested. Even in such a situation, it is the rapist and no one else<\/em> who is to be blamed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stop pretending that rapists are victims. Nothing is “accidental”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-rights-and-freedoms"],"yoast_head":"\nUber Case - Rape is Not a "Mistake"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stop pretending that rapists are victims. 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