The woman judge of a local court in
Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan was so aghast over heinousness in a child rape case that
he wrote a heart-moving poem in her judgement that awarded death penalty to the
convict.
According to police, a 3-year-old minor girl
came to visit her grandparents in their house at Jhunjhunu. Vinod, who was a
vendor, entered the house on the pretext of selling and spotted the minor. The
girl’s grandmother was out of the house to buy butter milk. By the time she
returned home, Vinod had raped the girl and fled away. Her grandmother found
the child bleeding profusely and crying. The incident was happened in August
2.
The accused Vinod Banjara, 22, is a resident
of Alipura of Lalsot tehsil of Dausa. Vinod was identified as an accused and
arrested from his house in Chirawa at Dausa on August 3 within 24 hours.
The trial started after a
chargesheet was filed by the Jhunjhunu police on August 13 with the accused
Vinod Kumar being convicted on August 30. The accused was awarded the death
sentence on 31st August, within 29 days of the crime.
The 22-year-old accused was
sentenced to death by the POCSO court in Jhunjhunu under Section 376AB of IPC
which was introduced under The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018 last month and
has a provision for death sentence for the rape of girls below 12 years of age.
However, there is something unique about the judgment that made it
different from the others we normally read about.
It was because the
judge, Neerja Dadhich, penned down an emotional poem while awarding death
sentence to the accused. She also recited the powerful lines during the
process.
“Jis masoom ko dekh ke man me pyar umad ke ata hai, dekha
usi ko man me kuch ke haivan utar ke ata hai” (A child whose sight evokes love
in the heart, some think of evil while gazing at her) reads a part of the poem
written by Judge Neerja Dadhich.
" Mera hi kaleja fatt jaaata hai toh maa kaise soyi
hogi? " (When my heart
bleeds on knowing the incident, how could her mother bear with this tragic
incident) she wonders in one of the lines of the poem.
The poem further reflects on the decaying values, " Jisne jeevan ke keval teen basant hi dekhe the, uspar yeh
annyay hua. Yeh kese vidhi ke lekhe the? " (What a country we have become, a child who had seen only three Springs
could not be saved from subjecting to this injustice.)
Judge Neerja, through her poem, hitted hard to the people, who tell the reason
for the women’s dress behind the abominable incident like a rape. She wrote, “Kapdo ke karan hote rape jo kahe unhe batlau
mai, akhir teen sal ki bacchi ko saree kaise pehnau mai"
(Those who claim rapes happen because of clothes, I would like to ask , how do
I make a three-year-old child wear a saree) the poem questions.
Judge Neerja Dadhich
in her poem laments “ Gar ab bhi na sudhre toh ek din aisa aayega, iss desh ko beti
dene se bhaghwaan bhi ghabhrayega.” (“If we do not mend our ways, that
day is not far off even God may afraid to bless this country with girl
child.")
The judge also mentions an increase of 500
per cent in incidents of rapes against minors in recent times. "Till 2016,
38,947 minors’ rape cases were registered in the country," she wrote in
her judgement while adding that those who commit such crimes deserve no mercy
or scope for reformation.
POCSO courts in Rajasthan have so far awarded death sentences
to five persons for sexual assault on minors below 12 years of age after the
government recently made amendments. But still crime against children continues
unabated.
Here is the full poem:
“Woh
masoom naazuk bachchi, ek aangan ki kali thi. Woh maa-baap ki aankhon ka taara
thi, armaanon se pali thi.
Jiski
masoom adaaon se maa-baap ka din ban jaata tha, jiski ek muskaan ke aage pathar
bhi moum ban jaata tha.
Voh
masoom bachchi theek se bol nahi paati thi, dikhaa ke jiski masoomiyat udaasi
bhi muskaan ban jaati thi.
Jisne
jeevan ke keval teen basant hi dekhe the, uspar yeh annyay hua. Yeh kese vidhi
ke lekhe the?
Ek
teen saal ki beti par yeh kaisa atyachaar hua?
Ek
bachchi ko darindo se bacha na sake yeh kaise mulk itna laachar hua?
Uss
bachhi par kitna zulm hua, woh kitna royi hogi.
Mera
hi kaleja fatt jaaata hai toh maa kaise soyi hogi?
Jis
masoom ko dekh kar mann mein pyaar umad kar aata hai, dekh ussi ko kuch ke mann
mein haiwaan utar aata hai.
Kapdon
ke kaaran hote rape jo kahein, unhein batlaun main, aakhir teen saal ki bachchi
ko saree kaise pehnaun mein?
Gar ab bhi na sudhre toh ek din aisa aayega,
iss desh ko beti dene se bhaghwaan bhi ghabhrayega.”
These words perfectly sum up the shameful
situation the country lies in. It beautifully portrays the feelings of every
individual who comes across a news of rape and sexual abuse. We sincerely hope
that this poem knocks the country up from its sleep as safety for women still
remains a far-fetched dream.
