The Khoupum rape
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: October 19, 2012 -
Notwithstanding the trauma they might be going through, it is good to know that the four school going girls who were raped at gun-point by two defected armed cadres of Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) at Taosemjang in Khoupum area of Tamenglong district on October 5 mustered up courage to speak out against the heinous crime committed against them.
The four girls, all students of Don Bosco School at Daithaolong village under Khoupum sub-division are studying in class VI, VII, VIII and X respectively and the inhumane act of violating their feminine chastity was committed while they were returning home from school on that fateful day.
From the account given by the victims, it was quite clear that the two defected ZUF cadres were sadistic to the core.
First, they terrorized the girls by releasing a volley of gun shots on the ground near their feet so that they could not run away, and later, they held the girls captive inside the quarter of Chowkidar of IFCD where the crime was committed.
So, the cry of the mother of one of the victims for justice and handing over the rapist (the other reportedly shot himself to death as opposed to the earlier assumption of one of the defected cadres killing the other in a fit of rage over releasing the girls) who is allegedly in the custody of the police if no death penalty is not given was heartrending, indeed.
It has been universally accepted that the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) faced by victims of rape is even more difficult to handle than the trauma of war, a serious car accident, prolonged illness and the death of a loved one, and the experience of being raped have more lasting effect than all other forms of psycho-traumatic effect including terrorism.
So, apart from special health care coverage that need to be provided with a long-term management plan in mind, rape victims should be monitored carefully by doctors and other healthcare providers.
However, to expect any of these facilities would sound absurd in a State like Manipur, let alone in the remote Khoupum sub-division of Tamenglong district, where the trigger-happy armed elements roam around freely even in the heart of the district headquarters.
In such a situation, the rape victims would have no option but to live on with the scar like other numerous past victims who have fallen prey to the carnal desires of unscrupulous lechers.
As ignorant as they could be about the facilities we are talking about handling the post-traumatic stress disorder, the four innocent rape victims have blamed on non-deployment of adequate security personnel in their village for the cause of the humiliating ordeal they been subjected too.
This should come like a hard slap on the face of our honourable Home Minister, who unfortunately or unfortunately happens to hail from the same village of the four innocent ravaged school girls.
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