--- Sanny de Quepem <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Asked whether it can be established that the victim > boy was > assaulted by the lady tuition teacher, the Colva > police inspector said that > only when the teacher is arrested and subjected for > medical examination the > police be able to establish the truth. > ------------------------------------------ I'm so disheartened by this story. On the one hand if the woman in question did molest this child then she has to pay the full penalty under the law.
On the other hand, it seems to have brought to the fore all the misogynistic assumptions made by our society. In our Goan society, where getting married and having children is the norm, women who fail to fulfill this role designated for them are reviled. They are the but of all jokes, with special pejorative terms like "beatul" and "azudre" coined for them. I attended a tiatre about two years ago which was replete with such abuses hurled at one of the "unmarried" characters in the play, and the crowd churlishly cheered on in agreement. Much has been made of the fact that this woman is a 40 year old spinster. Pedophilia is not a disease born out of deprivation but a sickness of the mind, and hence a 40 year old married woman with 10 children could be just as susceptible to it as a unmarried 40 year old. Secondly, why is the assumption made that the spinster is a virgin. Could she not be engaged in a healthy sexual relationship with a man outside of marriage? How will an "examination of her body" prove "assault" on the child? Is this the sort of evidence we are depending on to prove our cases in Goa these days? If so, I am afraid very afraid for our society. Selma __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
