The Rohtak Suicides:Why Can't Girls Be Allowed To Be Girls?

I don’t know where to start. The sheer injustice of it, repeated time & again; the blatant refusal of people to open their eyes to something so obvious, the strong denial of this society that refuses to change its attitude, have left me feeling helpless. When I came across this headline-’Death over eve-teasing’ I admit, I was shocked. I am ashamed to admit that even though for a fleeting second I too had joined the ranks of those who feel that eve-teasing is a petty issue in our country, like urinating in public…I mean girls get raped everyday…who kills themselves just ‘coz someone cat-called when they were walking down the street?!

As I went on reading through the article I felt a sense of dejection, the girls were aged 17 & 16! They should be worrying about what to wear to college the next day, which movies to watch, what books to read, whether they will make it through the entrance exams for graduation, about that cute guy in class, anything at all-not about penning down 6 pages of explanation on why they chose to die!

I read a passage from the heart-breaking note; one of the girls talks about bequeathing her watch to her brother & tells her family to buy that T-shirt for her little sister. The girls were adolescents, with a sense of maturity that was very much lacking in those lecherous men that harassed them. Their suicide notes tells us, how much thought they put into this, how they planned everything out to ensure that even when they do commit suicide the damage to their families’ reputation be the least.

The question is why?

Why is it so hard for girls to complain, to raise their voices & trust their own families? What good does education do, of what use is any of those educational awareness campaigns if the society still places restrictions on the victim instead of the criminal?! Enough has been said already but all I see is that nothing has changed actually. People still go about judging women when they complain of being eve-teased. ‘What were you wearing?’ ‘Were you drunk?’ ‘Why were you wandering about so late?’

Ever cared to ask your son/brother/husband/boyfriend these questions? ‘Boys will be boys’ is fine…boys turning into rapists is not!

A family’s reputation rests equally on the shoulders of both the son & the daughter. A girl should never feel that being eve-teased is her fault or that it brings dishonour to her family. It is a matter of shame for those guys’ parents who indulge in such disgusting activities, not yours! Staying silent or blaming yourself is the worst mistake ever. Let the Rohtak suicide incident be the last ever. Let’s teach our daughters to live with courage & support them when they need their families’ love. Teach them how to exercise caution, make them aware of the dangers that lurk everywhere, teach your sons to be respectful, to treat females as their equals, not some weakling that needs their protection nor as a play toy.

If you’re willing to let boys be boys, please let our girls be girls too?