Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Some rapes are more newsworthy than others in India...

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All sexual harassment, violence and rape is abhorrent. And women’s groups in every corner of India are screaming ‘enough!’. But Dalit groups are asking a different question, a very valid question: ‘why are some rapes more outrageous than others? Why does the Indian media scream from the rooftops about middle class girls from Delhi and Mumbai, but ignore the daily attacks on poor, mostly Dalit, women and girls?’ These routine rapes, and I cringe as I write this phrase, barely merit inside column inches on a dull newsroom day. Forget Dalit rapes making headlines, they are just not newsworthy. They are dismissed as rapes that do not interest readers. Why are these rapes under-reported?

Why are they never sensationalized like the infamous Nirbhaya rape in Delhi? December 2012 is seared into our brains, into our collective, national memory. All of us are outraged that the most brutal rapist will walk free in three years because he is a minor. ‘Castrate the bastards’ was a popular sentiment when the verdict was announced a few days ago. The nation expressed outrage and anger all over again.

But when Dalit women are raped, the silence is deafening. The indifference is palpable. A few newspapers diligently report the incidents but even passionate young reporters, journalists who really care, cannot inspire anger or outrage in a cynical, blasé readership. India is enveloped in ennui when the violated women are Dalit – rural or urban, domestic servants or adivasi (indigenous) people. Full story...

Related posts:
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  3. 14-year-old Dalit girl in India burnt alive for resisting rape...
  4. Rape in India, Dalits and shadow politics...
  5. If you're a Dalit and resist rape, you may get burned to death.
  6. 4 Pahariya girls in India dragged out of hostel, raped by 25 drunk men...
  7. Kidnapped girl in India rescued, and then raped by cops...
  8. Schoolgirl in Guwahati, India stripped and molested by 20 scumbags in busy street. 
  9. Two schoolgirls raped by 15 men in India. WTF!

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