India is in a state of flux and with increasing prosperity, a dark side has emerged; a ready-made market for porn depicting live rapes and gang rapes of girls. The center of this trade is the northern state of Utter Pradesh, but with the digitalization of India, these rape videos spread like wild fire all over India.
One of the favorite vehicles for this are social interaction sites like WhatsApp and Facebook. For others who have not yet experienced social sites, the videos recorded on pen drives, flash sticks or discs are available in small kiosks and video stores
There is a craze for videos of women being raped with all the violence associated with it and there is a big market where the clips sell for as low as $0.30 cents and longer videos up to $3.
Porn is big business in America as well, but such proliferation where clips of women being forcibly subject to the will of man are sold at the local store is not a common practice Al Jazeera reported.
The videos
Most of the videos are pretty clear and the faces of the girls and women are clearly visible. Even the sound track is clear and the pleadings of the women are audible to all. This phenomenon has been going on under the nose of the police who really have no clue about it. One of the senior police officials confessed that he did not know what a “rape video” is.
Social workers are seized with this problem as in many cases, the women are shamed and many committed suicide after they were disowned by their families.
But the sadistic pleasure which many derive from such videos makes this a lucrative business. In many cases, rape is planned in advance and a girl selected and then the act is filmed.
Rapists not punished
Many believe that the responsibility for such crimes can be traced to the government’s insensitivity towards women and also the fact that most rapists get away with it.
Even the four rapists the in the Nirbhaya case have not been executed though years have passed. People are not sure they will be executed as in many cases the sentences are commuted to prison terms. Rapists are granted bail by the courts, making a mockery of the crime.
Flip side
There is another side to this story and it is possible that many of the explicit clips are simulated rapes, stage managed for the public at large.
It’s an excellent way to make a bit of money on the side. But what ever the truth, the fact that many men relish watching such videos and also pay for them is a disturbing sign. Many leaders have condemned this but the sale continues unabated.
Last word
Despite all the latest legislation, the crime of rape is on the upswing and the National Commission for Women has estimated that there was a 9 percent increase in rapes over last year. In America, many rapists have been Sentenced To Death, right from1951 when Caryl Chessman the “Red Light Bandit” was executed, yet in India so far no one has been executed for raping a girl.
