A few days back, there was a court proceeding in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, which was unlike any other we are used to reading about.
Gar ab bhi na sudhre toh ek din aisa aayega, iss desh ko beti dene se bhaghwaan bhi ghabhrayega.
It was because the judge, Neerja Dadhich, recited a hard-hitting poem in the court while giving death penalty to a 22-year-old man accused of raping a 3-year-old-girl.
Uss bachchi par kitna zulm hua, woh kitna royi hogi. Mera hi kaleja fatt jaaata hai, toh maa kaise soyi hogi?
The accused committed the heinous crime at the home of child’s maternal grandmother. The man was handed death penalty under Section 376AB of IPC, introduced last month.
Coming under The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018, it has a provision for death sentence for the rape of girls below 12 years of age.
A chargesheet against him was filed on August 13 and he was convicted on August 30, within 29 days of the crime.
Making a statement against people who cite clothes as the reason behind rape, and think that having the body covered will reduce chances of being sexually exploited, she said:
Kapdon ke kaaran hote rape jo kahein, unhein batlaun main, aakhir teen saal ki bachchi ko saree kaise pehnaun mein?
The clothes are NOT the problem. They never are, they never were.
Here is the entire poem that sums up the feeling of every human who reads about the news related to rapes and sexual assault in the newspapers and finds themselves emotionally broken.
“Woh masoom naazuk bachchi, ek aangan ki kali thi. Woh maa-baap ki aankhon ka taara thi, armaanon se pali thi.
Jiski masoom adaaon se maa-baap ka din ban jaata tha, jiski ek muskaan ke aage pathar bhi moum ban jaata tha.
Woh masoom bachchi theek se bol nahi paati thi, dikhaa ke jiski masoomiyat udaasi bhi muskaan ban jaati thi.
Jisne jeevan ke keval teen basant hi dekhe the, uspar yeh annyay hua. Yeh kese vidhi ke lekhe the?
Ek teen saal ki beti par yeh kaisa atyachaar hua?
Ek bachchi ko darindo se bacha na sake yeh kaise mulk itna laachar hua?
Uss bachhi par kitna zulm hua, woh kitna royi hogi.
Mera hi kaleja fatt jaaata hai toh maa kaise soyi hogi?
Jis masoom ko dekh kar mann mein pyaar umad kar aata hai, dekh ussi ko kuch ke mann mein haiwaan utar aata hai.
Kapdon ke kaaran hote rape jo kahein, unhein batlaun main, aakhir teen saal ki bachchi ko saree kaise pehnaun mein?
Gar ab bhi na sudhre toh ek din aisa aayega, iss desh ko beti dene se bhaghwaan bhi ghabhrayega.”
