Kolkata rape and murder: Demands for violent, retributive justice do not address practical problems
Death penalty, ‘castration’ and extrajudicial killings do little to make spaces safe for everyone and ensure equal and lifelong access to justice.
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
A decade after the Delhi gangrape, we now have a fairly predictable public response cycle for exceptionally violent rape and murder cases in India. With the Kolkata case involving the rape and murder of a trainee doctor, we see yet another iteration of this cycle.
The first stage involves hot-take headlines often claim India is the “rape capital of the world”, emphasising the large number of cases reported to the police every year. Unsurprisingly, there is little regard for the billion-plus population size. Addressing this will require more effort and highlight a very inconvenient fact – India has curiously low reporting rates of rape.
The next stage in the public response cycle involves reporting and reposting specific case details. Not all cases of rape elicit visceral reactions or public condemnation. Certain elements are vital for a case to be considered high profile.
Typically, the victim is a young person engaged in ordinary activities and the violence they suffer must be both sexual and fatal. Concerning the accused, they are usually expendable strangers, almost certainly from marginal groups.
The third stage, which we are now entering with the Kolkata case, is the stage of public demands. This stage has several components. One of these is the expression of feminist...
