Accused Rapist to Be Slapped in India

[MA-Caver]

Accused Rapist to Be Slapped in India

By BISWAJEET BANERJEE
The Associated Press
Friday, November 10, 2006; 8:15 AM

LUCKNOW, India -- A man in northern India will be publicly slapped 51 times as punishment after village elders found him guilty of raping a neighbor who is deaf and mute, a village chief said Friday.

The elders stepped in to review the case because local police had failed to arrest the accused man after a complaint was filed by the victim's husband, village head Badr-ul Hasan told The Associated Press.

"Police told us that since the woman is deaf and mute, she is not able to narrate the incident," Hasan said.

Village courts generally settle land disputes and other disagreements among residents, not criminal offenses.

But many rape cases go unreported in India, especially in villages, since women fear further harassment by police, who often work with corrupt local politicians and landlords.

A village court made up of five elders heard from both sides on Wednesday. It found the man guilty, fined him $110 and ordered he be publicly slapped 51 times, Hasan said.

"We can't do more than that. The village court doesn't have powers to arrest anyone," he said. "By public slapping, the court wants to put (him) to shame."

Communicating through hand signals, the woman, a mother of three, said she was raped in a field Sunday when returning home from work in Rampur, 205 miles northwest of Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh.

Police inspector C.N. Singh said officers were still investigating her complaint.

"A case will be registered only if police find proof that the woman was raped. We are inquiring from children who were playing in the field then," Singh said.

If convicted by a state criminal court, the man could be sentenced to death.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/AR2006111000198.html

Dunno if this is justice... the guy being slapped around 51 times and it's called public humiliation (then paying $110.00 fine) ... somehow I don't think it equals the humiliation that the woman feels after the crime.
Still the village elders are taking matters into their own hands and doing something about it while the police take the long route to ensure a proper case. Hopefully they'll find the evidence they need and then try the bastard in their state criminal court... he might get the death penalty. He probably thought he could get away with it because the woman was deaf. Hopefully this will make him think twice... but some-how I doubt it.
Interesting to see how matters like this atrocity are taken care of in another country.

 

[Ping898]

though I agree that it is not much of a punishment and not much a deterent to other would be rapists, it is still better than nothing, it is still better than the woman being harassed for reporting the rape as seems to happen in that area more often then not...and though I don't know if it is possible hopefully she will feel some small measure of peace for having him brought to some sort of justice. And since he has been found guilty in the local courts, hopefully it will weigh against him in the criminal case...

 

[mantis]

slapped? im sure this sounds kinky to him!

 

[bushidomartialarts]

remember we're talking about village life here. this is public shaming in front of, essentially, the whole world.

honestly, i wish we still used that here for many offenses.

still not enough, but it's a start.

 

[JasonASmith]

I agree that it's a good start, but to my mind, if a person rapes someone else they should have their appendage cut off. Same with child molestors, although there would be a few thousand volts ran through that area first. Cue Denis Leary's comments on priests molesting children...

 

[MA-Caver]

slapped? im sure this sounds kinky to him!

He wouldn't think it'd be kinky if I was allowed to slap him the way I'd slap him... With a nail studded 2X4! :whip:

 

[theletch1]

He wouldn't think it'd be kinky if I was allowed to slap him the way I'd slap him... With a nail studded 2X4! :whip:

You beat me to that line. Somehow I don't think that someone so base as to rape a woman is really going to care whether they're humiliated in from of the entire world or not.

 

[bydand]

It depends who gets to slap him. 51 times, you could turn him into a drooling idiot for good (more so than he already is) I would suspect.

 

[searcher]

I have seen some iron palm guys that would slap you silly. I can't imagine what that could feel like. I am in agreement that the punishment is not very sturn, but maybe that is the highest punishment they allow.

 

[Fu_Bag]

First off, he targeted someone deaf and mute. How about 51 kicks to the balls? True, the slaps he'll get aren't likely to be kinky but the guy may enjoy when women fight back. He might actually enjoy that type of abuse and it might make him even more excited to do it again if the public slapping sates his psyche needs more.

Maybe let the deaf and mute woman slap him 51 times with the smooth surface of a wrecking ball. Just have someone stand beside her and say "stop" when she's got to the 51st slap. That might give her her dignity back.

Seriously though, I hope the slaps are done by her pissed off father. The deaf and mute thing really sits badly with me.

 

[MA-Caver]

Maybe let the deaf and mute woman slap him 51 times with the smooth surface of a wrecking ball. Just have someone stand beside her and say "stop" when she's got to the 51st slap. That might give her her dignity back.

Seriously though, I hope the slaps are done by her pissed off father. The deaf and mute thing really sits badly with me.

It doesn't sit too well with me here either so I'm with ya on that.

But "...slap him 51 times with the smooth surface of a wrecking ball..." c'mon man... lets make it a spiked mace instead.
I'd say have her castrate the guy with a rusty knife, poke his ear-drums with a rusty ice-pick and cut his tongue out... Then for good measure burn his eyes out as well...

It's hard to give any woman who's been raped her dignity back, possible, but it may take a while. A lot of rapes go unreported because of the shame and the humiliation the victims feel afterwards. I mean the whole village knows about this woman now... hell, the whole flippin world does. How are you going to restore lost dignity of that magntude? Killing or severely punishing the perp still doesn't make the fact go away. It never does. That's what so hideous about this crime, it's far too personal to the victim to have it simply removed and forgotten because it can't.
The fact that she's deaf makes it all the more personal because quite possibly the area where she lives higher forms of sign-language might not be available. She may only know elementary (basic) "home-signs" or signs that were created by her and her immediate family. Thus, she may not have an outlet to talk about it with anyone.
Hopefully they'll find the witnesses and try the bastard civilly and he'll get the death penalty as justly deserved. Hopefully she'll get the help she needs to get over this traumatic experience.

Hopefully.

 

[terryl965]

slapped? im sure this sounds kinky to him!

Yea a nd I guess a foot in the *** would just be amusing to him.