Anish Ghimire

The news of rape, acid attack, and women violence ring in our ears with no disparity to daily weather news and daily political news, it happens almost daily. And it so common and regular that girls have to fear walking alone, to walk at night, to go out somewhere, being at home by themselves and in many cases fear of someone they know personally.
A survey published in Times of India states that 95% of rapes are committed by someone the victim knows, relatives, and family members.
I am forced to ask a daunting question to fathers- where will you hide your daughters? Brothers; where will you hide your sisters? Where will we hide our women to shield them from the monstrous perpetrators forced to act on their “uncontrollable hormones” or the fact they were “bored” or the fact they were “frustrated” or “its the girl's fault, they always entice men.” or “she has too much makeup, or her clothes are too small.”
The above words are not mine but from sexual perpetrators when they were asked what led them to cause the greatest violence against women. The excuses and justifications from rapists when they are asked the reason for their sin is laughable. It makes the world dark and gloomy. Rapes are not only committed by naïve boys but they are also committed by fathers, brothers, teachers, religious leaders, politicians, neighbours, you name it.
Why is this happening? When I read about this news, I cannot help but always ask, “Why?” Once the great B.P. Koirala very rightly pointed out in a short story titled “A tale,” where he explains a sage who went to the jungle for penance and meditation quickly changed his mind when a beautiful nymph sent by god broke his concentration. He later gives up his commitment and builds a life with the nymph by marrying her.
This book summarises that 'sexual passion is the strongest passion of humans.' And this is true since the beginning of human existence. Many leaders, billionaires, celebrities have lost everything thanks to this strongest desire. This is why one of the rapists was talking about "uncontrollable hormones." One of the sexual perpetrators dared to say that "most girls don't understand how sexually frustrated guys can become." and he went onto describe how he would educate his daughter to stay away from such men.
Rape does not only happen in remote or dark areas. It happens in daylight, it happens in buses, it happens in fields, it happens in homes. It happens to minors, teenagers, middle and old aged women, and believe me when I say this; it happens to animals too. People come together to plan rape. They plan an acid attack, and they form a group to attack the victim, whether the victim is coming back from doing her homework, or visiting her parents, or simply living her life. They have no right to live by themselves. They have to surrender to the insanity of someone. They have to suffer just because someone couldn’t “control their hormones.”
Perpetrators love to blame their victims. I have seen youths like me proudly saying that "short clothes entice us, and we cannot help it, it's the girl's fault." If it is so, I ask you, why are minors raped? 3, 4 months minors are raped, why? Women in a sari, burqa are raped. Old age women are raped. Animals are raped. Explain this to me then, should we put on clothes for animals too now? It's all in the mentality. It's all about the need to control and assert power. Especially, distracted men like to show their power, their courageous will. Taking down a woman makes them manly; through such an act, they can prove they are a man. If you go to these types of men and ask them what if someone did the same to their sister or mother, then you will see their rage and anger. How ironic!
Years ago, the daughter of this country was raped and murdered. Her name was Nirmala Panta, her perpetrator roams free, and people have somehow forgotten about it. Why is it so? This is just one adverse case. Other Nirmalas are still searching for justice. Why do the victims suffer, and the sinner doesn’t? Why the law of karma doesn’t apply in our country? Why just why? This is not just me; thousands of people are on the streets asking the same question.
When we will we punish the rapist or acid attacker by death? The death penalty can be bigger than the fact that they had “uncontrollable hormones.” It’s time we stop protecting rapists. Let’s make them fear.
Next time they have sinful thoughts, let's make them think twice. Let's teach proper sexual education in schools and colleges. Let's not stigmatize the talks of sexual health. Let's allow everyone to talk openly about sexual health because we cannot keep on going like this. The government, the people, every one of us has our separate roles to play. We can stop this. We can protect our women. We can protect our mothers, sisters, friends, etc. We can create a place where they can live and roam without fear.

(Ghimire is a university student)