It’s been nine months since this country saw the media coverage of Rohtak Sisters made famous as Rohtak Bravehearts. It’s been nine months since Kuldeep, Mohit and Deepak were called “sexual predators, molesters, blot on the face of nation” and much more. Finally, in as much time as a new life enters this world, police has submitted a report in this case, reportedly pointing towards innocence of the boys in the entire episode. We have all moved on in life but not those boys or the people of their village.
Kuldeep – one of the main accused in the case – wasn’t allowed by the Army to sit for an exam, even though he had cleared all the preliminary tests. These boys have already served a sentence and been punished – not only mentally but also in terms of their career – for a crime they did not commit. Why? “All because of Media” Kuldeep tells me.
One of the main trainings given by the Army in my opinion would be to not let the gender of the enemy attacking you come in. But in this case, this boy, who was an army aspirant was punished for mere act of saving and defending himself from repeated attacks by the opposite gender.
Kuldeep – one of the main accused in the case – wasn’t allowed by the Army to sit for an exam, even though he had cleared all the preliminary tests
While his behaviour should have been applauded for not thrashing the girls back, though he could have, he was in turn branded as a criminal because the Indian Media was too hungry for its next target. No one wanted to know the real story; everyone wanted another “hang the molesters” slogan loudest on their channel.
Debates were organised, OB vans rushed to girl’s village. Reporters asking the girl’s mother what did she eat to give birth to girls so courageous! Who cared who these boys were like? Who cared if they actually did something? The only yardstick for analysing bravery of the country’s women today is their thrashing of men. Slap a man and you have done a great job! We are seeing that happening around us more and more and we are all okay with it.
My issue is not with punishing people who have done something wrong but the whole idea of presuming that a man is always wrong and even when it is proven that the woman was wrong – being quiet about it.
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Just two days ago, news reports came in of a 50-year-old woman Geeta Patel in Mumbai, who blackmailed rich elderly men through threats of false molestation cases. She feigned a fall in front of these men and then requested them to support her till her building. When they got inside the building she threatened them by screaming of molestation and took away their watches, chains and anything valuable. Fearing they would never be believed of their innocence, many gave her what she wanted until someone complained.
This news is of course not a headline in any of the dailies or breaking news in any channel even though this woman conned so many men this way. Why would it be? It would become viral only if the woman hit the man after alleging molestation and someone made the video of the episode. A woman aged 50 thrashing a man would fetch a bigger bravery award and example for others to emulate! A screaming headline would be – “Even A 50-Year-Old Woman Is Not Safe In Mumbai”. No one would bother to know the other side of the story. Geeta could very well become Mumbai’s braveheart had she complained before the men complained against her.
I discussed at least three more cases where Rohtak Sisters and her family had threatened people of false cases in the video I made on this episode. No one in the mainstream media bothered to follow up. The life of a young boy who was falsely accused of kidnapping by this family wasn’t important – neither for the police, nor for the media. It is not a crime that matters for them, but perhaps gender does.
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With the police giving a clean chit to the Rohtak boys, shouldn’t all those people apologise who left no stone unturned to declare the boys guilty before the actual trial? Should the nation not know the developments in a case where the honourable judges and juries in media courts passed their verdict without any evidence? Would they apologise after our courts also free the boys of the charges?
Who would give back the three days these boys spent in the jail just because of media trial? Who would give back Kuldeep’s dreams of joining the Army? Who would pay back for the tears of their village ‘Assan’ that was defamed by media to no end? Who would pay back for the tears of the old parents who beat up their own sons because that was the right thing to do with so much media pressure in the case? Who would pay back for the tears of Kuldeep’s sister who kept pleading that her brother should not be declared guilty before any actual trial takes place?
How the lives of men and their families are ruined because of false allegations is still not a subject that the Indian media is interested in
Who would give me back my four days of stress because these girls had an axe to grind with me too and complained about me to the police just because I wrote and brought out the facts of the case which were inconvenient to them?
NO ONE!!!
And it doesn’t matter. Media has moved on from the story. They would not apologise, especially when the accused were boys from a remote village who cannot sue them with a 100-crore-rupee defamation suit. So they can afford to just let it be. Not only them – all of us would actually do nothing except just feeling little sad about it.
The ”Pain of a Man” is only a cliché, justice and concern are gender-specific. How the lives of men and their families are ruined because of false allegations is still not a subject that the Indian media is interested in. I would not harp on the pain of these boys either. They will make their own future and I am positive about that.
What I am happy about is that these boys survived, did not resort to any extreme steps and faced the battle. Kuldeep has told me with conviction that he would appeal to the Chief Minister to give him and the two other boys a job as he promised in case they are found innocent. I hope the Chief Minister listens. I hope the media does anything – anything at all – to return the lost respect these boys!