This incident is not an aberration. Last month there was a report appeared in the Indian Express about a blind man raped a blind woman in Delhi on the pretext of marriage. And last year Bangalore Mirror reported that the blind women residing in the NAB hostel in Bangalore also complaint against growing cases of sexual harassment on the campus. Not only this, four years ago Manorma Online interviewed a number of blind women who shared their experiences of uneasiness in the residential hostel in the Santnagar and Burari localities in Delhi. What all these incedents suggest? Many blind adult men who have similar urges and desires like non-blind men find it difficult to make love or be loved by women. They in desperation, target blind women who are vulnerable. Blind women have less options of dating and marrying outside their community. As a result, some of the blind men misuse womens' compulsions disproportionately. And there is no denying that the societal tag 'asexual' ascripted to the disabled body has accentuated the crime unchecked. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150812/jsp/jharkhand/story_36665.jsp#.VcrsGhYVgmw
Principal of St Michael's Blind School MTP Agarwal with the visually challenged rape survivor at the SCPCR office in Ranchi on Tuesday. Telegraph picture A 13-year-old visually impaired girl was allegedly gagged and raped by a 17-year-old partially blind schoolmate in a hostel room in Ranchi last year in an alarming indication of how early our moral fabric is fraying and how the perennial fear of social stigma hinders the quest for justice. While the incident took place at St Michael's Blind School in Bahu Bazar on October 15, 2014, an FIR was lodged against the accused only on Tuesday after the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) prodded the institution management into action. According to the FIR lodged with Chutia police, the rape survivor is a native of Naru village in Mandar block of Ranchi district while the accused hails from Pratappur in Garhwa district. "Both are among the 111 inmates enrolled at the residential school, but have not attended classes since the incident came to light five days after the actual crime. We will try to bring in the minor accused," said OC Dinesh Kumar Mahli. SCPCR member Manoj Kumar said he got inkling of the alleged atrocity during a routine visit to St Michael's on August 7, when visually impaired schoolgirls clamoured for better security, saying that they were "very afraid" of the boys. "Some of the girls claimed they were often harassed by the boys. Later, on being quizzed, the principal revealed about the incident," Kumar said. St Michael's Blind School is funded by the state government, but has no provision for security of its inmates. The 13-year-old girl, who confronted the media at the SCPCR office near Kutchery Chowk on Tuesday in the presence of her elder sister, St Michael's principal M.T.P. Agarwal and SCPCR members Kumar and Vinita, said the accused had always been like a brother to her. On October 15 evening, she and others had assembled at the school auditorium to participate in a singing competition, when the accused held her hand and guided her to a hostel room. "He was like an elder brother; I did not know what he had in mind. But then, he tied my hands and gagged me..." she broke down. Asked why the school delayed lodging an FIR, principal Agarwal claimed he had had a tough time convincing the girl's family members. "Last month, I again asked them to lodge an FIR after her statement was recorded at the social welfare department's Women Helpline office on Purulia Road," she said. School records show the girl had enrolled in 2007 in Class I and the boy joined the same year in Class II. Agarwal insisted that the cradle had never faced such ignominy. She said the survivor had reported her ordeal to the school management only on October 20 and there was no scope for medical examination to confirm rape then. "Between October 21-22, both the boy and girl were taken away from the school by their parents, and the case went cold," she added. SCPCR member Kumar said he had directed Agarwal to admit the girl to Kasturba Gandhi Residential School in Chanho block and requested police cover because she was allegedly receiving threats from the boy's family. A cousin of the accused was contacted in Garhwa, but he refused to comment. --- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
