The desperate act of a young woman against a man who had been allegedly raping her for years has become a point of discussion in Kerala society.
On Friday night, a 23 year old final year law student from Thiruvanathapuram called the police control room, informing the police that she had cut off the penis of 54-year-old Gangesanantha Teerthapadar swamy, a self styled godman.
While the Kerala CM called it a brave act, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor struck a not of caution. He wrote on Facebook, “There is something gratifying about such swift justice but she would have been better off bringing the matter to the police rather than taking the law into her own hands. I sympathize with her, as most people would, but we need a society where justice prevails, not one where every individual seeks it with a knife in her hand.”
Tharoor's post illicited varied kind of reactions.
A user wrote, "That should be the case in an ideal society sir. But where we live justice is hard to get for rape victims as you already must know. The lady knows the fact and so she had to resort to extreme measures. We can only hope the judiciary and the government will finally open their eyes and impose laws that the criminals can't find a way around."
Another pointed out, "While I support the notion that a we should not react in a manner unbecoming of a civilized society in any situation, I support this girl. I'd like to view it in the light of "self defence", we all know how tormenting such abuses are and how difficult it is for the victim to sometimes to convince her own family, and even then at times to remain in forced silence. I would think most people would like to seek formal help if that help is readily available, is sensitive to the mental trauma faced by the victim and the judiciary disposes of the cases in a reasonable time frame."
Many users pointed out that the woman's action showed how much people have lost faith in the system. One user wrote, "Unfortunately in the country, our police and judicial systems have not given this confidence to our women. Which is why anarchy prevails. This is not just a BJP govt. issue but has been going on since past 3 to 4 decades. So, the focus should be on improving these systems to regain people's confidence. Until then these events will continue to happen."
Another user said, "I think we cannot describe or even imagine the crisis situation, that lady had gone through which lead to the castration. It was not a premeditated one as per the information availiable till now. How better do you think a girl can react if the so called support system had betrayed her in all these years."