Monday, March 27, 2006

It would be amusing if it weren't so enraging.

Lawyers of rape-accused Kasliwal say he is too educated, too qualified, just too pedigree-ly sound to have been a rapist. Yes, that's part of their defense. To read just how overquaified he is for the job he supposedly couldn't have done here.

(If you're altogether unfamiliar with the case, you can read my post here. But to cut a long story short, Kasliwal's a rich heir, accused of rape by a 52-year old widow in Mumbai.)


It would be amusing, if it weren't such a deja vu.

Perhaps you can recall the case of Bhanwari Devi, a dalit woman. She was raped by five upper-caste men for trying to prevent child marriage. As a social worker - a saathin in Rajasthan, she had dared to interfere with the wedding of an infant girl. She was therefore taught a lesson, in the presence of her husband.

Of course the FIR and the medical examination, as you must know/expect, didn't happen the way it should. And even when the case reached court, the trial court acquitted the accused saying that upper caste men could not have condescended to have intercourse with a lower caste like her.

In case you didn't know and are surprised: No, I am not making this up - that is actually what the judge wrote in his ruling. And i won't even bother to give you a link on this, you can find this piece of info all over the net.

And no, you won't find any news of her getting a redressal.

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