By Renuka Dhakal
Kathmandu, Oct. 11: Nowadays, incidents of rape are increasing day by day. We get to hear about the rapes of minors almost every day.
Nirmala Panta, a 14-year-old girl from Kanchanpur, and Samjhana BK, a 12- year-old from Bajhang were brutally murdered after rape.
A few days ago, a 16-year-old teenage girl was raped by two persons in a parked bus in Bhaktapur. Even on Wednesday, a man was arrested by police on charge of raping a minor at Bagmati corridor in Sahayoginagar in Baneshwar.
These are some alarming representative cases of brutal rape in our society.
As the incidents of rape continue to rise, it is natural that the parents who give birth to daughters worry about the safety and security of their daughters.
Meanwhile, actress Reecha Sharma has written an open letter to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and said that she was scared to give birth to a daughter.
She penned panic words to the Prime minister, “Apart from being an actress, I am a daughter who loves this country, being a woman, I am ashamed of myself, I am scared, I am terrified,” she wrote.
“Even an imagination about those innocent girls, heart begins to burn, I am afraid that my daughter will be born tomorrow. I'm afraid I won't be able to make it a safe place for my daughter,” Sharma wrote in the open letter.
Reecha said that no matter how much she tries to teach etiquette and discipline, she is worried that her children will grow up with the mindset that this country and its laws will not do anything.
Actress Sharma further wrote, “I am ashamed to be a woman today when I see the rapists who rape even minors walking around openly or spending days in jail with normal fines and stay only few days in jail.”
“Although we have evolved with technology, unfortunately we are still lagging behind. Here the girls are being openly sexually abused by the demons, we have only become poor,” she wrote.
Stating that even if not the issue of the people, Sharma said, “Once look at the eyes of daughters and grandchildren of your family, are they safe in this country?” she questioned.
“I believe in the government, but my feet are shaking these days,” she mentioned in the letter to the prime minister.
Actress Sharma also noted that in a country where women are worshiped and the president herself is a woman, heinous crimes such as rape are considered normal by law enforcement agencies and they still feel that they are in the era of Goddess Sita’s ordeal.
Actress Sharma is very worried about the increasing number of rape cases in Nepal. It is not only the concern of Sharma, it is the concern of every parent who has a daughter, and it is also the concern of those parents who have a son that their son might also commit such a heinous crime.