Suzette Jordan was a prominent women’s rights activist and anti-rape campaigner from Kolkata, India. She herself was a survivor of a gangrape in Park Street, Kolkata. she died last year in March.
Today her sister, Nicqui Jordan, writes a Letter to India.
Dear India,
  Â
Just recently, I read about a 28-day-old baby who had been raped by a man in his mid-20s. These are mentally ill people. They need to be hanged.
Crimes against women in India are an everyday affair. You walk down the street, there is some remark, some lewd gesture, an attempt to intimidate. People passing by may stop for a moment to watch but no one comes forward to help.
Our country is too laid-back and lazy. The police, the lawyers and the judicial system â the entire system is wrong. Right from the time my sister, Suzette, went to lodge the complaint, she was subjected to humiliation and degradation. During the medical test at Nil Ratan Sarkar Hospital, she was made to stand nude with her arms and legs stretched out. No lady attendant was present. Once the media got involved, the person conducting the test lost his job. He was not even a doctor but a "helper". Before my sister's case, dozens of women must have been subjected to this shame. How dare a person who is not even a doctor conduct a medical test for a rape victim without a female attendant present? You are dealing with a rape victim, at least, show some respect, some sensitivity. Please don't rape her all over again.
My sister was gangraped and thrown out of a moving car in February 2012. Her case was a fast track case. It should have taken four to six months to announce the quantum of punishment. But our case took three years. Once the judge was ill, then another time it was too hot so the hearing was deferred, then my sister's lawyer was unwell.
It was a heinous crime and needed quick action and punishment. Suzette got into a car at Park Street with one guy, four others forcibly got in after her. They auto-locked the car, turned up the volume loud as she had started screaming. They put a gun in her mouth; they beat her with the gun on her head repeatedly. They raped her one by one. They beat her up; they bit her all over, her face, her thighs. She was bitten everywhere. She had her clothes on half of her body. Her pants were down to her knees when she was thrown out of the moving car. If that doesnât call for someone to be hanged then what is the system waiting for?
Something worse?
What is unacceptable is that the two main men responsible for this ghastly crime are still absconding. The three who have been arrested have been sentenced to 10 yearsâ imprisonment. That is not enough.
Today, many more cases of rape are being reported. Yet more and more men are getting the courage to commit this crime! Sadly, even arrests of the guilty are not deterring others. After Delhi's horrific Nirbhaya case, the country has seen several gruesome rapes. To make matters worse, the guilty 18-year-old in the Delhi case got off scot-free.
People will continue to commit such crimes. The guilty have to be arrested and hanged.
Your daughter
0
Audi India is proud to be a part of India’s progressive growth and salutes the spirit of India.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)
