When revenge is justice

There is nothing but praise for the Kerala law student who “bobbittised” her rapist with a kitchen knife. To most, chopping off a sadistic rapist’s penis seems like natural justice, so the police hasn’t felt it necessary to file a case. After suffering exploitation by this so-called godman for eight years, the student’s tipping point came when the swami-rapist tried to sexually assault her in her own home. That’s when she decided to do what Lorena Bobbitt famously did in the US, lending her husband’s name to the ultimate rage-driven revenge women can take. After the Kerala CM’s praise, it’s unlikely the student will ever face punishment for doing what many sexually-assaulted women dream of doing.

Beyond the lesson “bobbittisation” carries for rapists, this incident is also a lesson about not trusting “godmen”. The criminal intent of many of them lead to the silent exploitation of several devotees. Speaking up about sexual assault isn’t easy, and with India’s slow criminal justice system, it’s daunting. Add to that the shame a victim undergoes by admitting being sexually violated, the very visual and despicable moral judgment pronounced by Union minister Sushma Swaraj comes to mind.

Bobbitisation is the final cry for help from a woman who has no other choice, no way out. It’s also a deafening scream to awaken a society and a system that will either ignore her plight or, if it takes notice, treat her as a “zinda laash”. It’s not merely an act that renders a rapist impotent, it’s one that tells the system how impotent it is.