Partner in Rape
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: October 29, 2012 -

As much as we at Hueiyen Lanpao have been shocked over the revelation, our esteemed readers have been constantly ringing up keeping our office phone busy to confirm the reported attempt of the father of a rape accused to offer Rs 20 lakhs to the victim's family to settle the case and another Rs 5 lakhs to an uncle of the victim whom the father approached for mediation.

This is simply outrageous, and one's blood might be boiling to learn about the temerity of the father who tried to wield his monetary power to save his wayward son.

So, it's understandable when one of our readers demanded both the accused be hanged till death to discourage anyone from committing such crimes in future.

According to the report, Thongam Jayenta, father of Thongam Tarun, a singing star of Manipuri digital film and one of the accused (the other accused, not surprisingly, being a cop) in the rape of a school girl, approached one Joy, an uncle of the victim, promising him to give Rs 5 lakhs for initiating negotiation with the victim's family to settle the case with monetary offer of Rs 20 lakh.

It's good that uncle Joy flatly refused the offer and gave a befitting reply to Jayenta, if not a good thrashing that the father really deserves.

Interestingly, the same father had been crying hoarse against the media report over implicating his son in the rape case and asking media not to publish anything without knowing the truth as 'it will demoralized his actor son'.

Now that the revelation over the disastrous attempt of the father of the rape accused to shut the mouth of the victim and her family members with monetary offer has come out in the open, that too, in the presence of the members of Manipur State Women Commission (MSWC) who were fortuitously paying a visit to record the statement of the victim, the Investigation Officer (IO) who is handling the case, should not take the matter lightly.

Love for one's doting son is natural, but such mindset of a father who lives under the impression that anything could be bought with money is really dangerous, even more dangerous than his rape accused son.

So, there should not be any reason why the father too may not be implicated in the present case under relevant sections of IPC.

We should not forget the fact that rape is more severe than murder, because through rape, the victim is murdered emotionally as well as mentally and left with no choice but to live through life with agony and trauma, which could not be compensated by any amount of money one could give.

It is said that 99% of rape incidents go un-reported as victims never speak out due to severe social stigma attached and the criminals who know this point well commit rape without any fear.

But in the present case, the young victim has been courageous enough to speak up for justice and we should appreciate this.