There can be no justification for rape

This refers to the editorial, “Don't kill conscience” (April 13). Rape is a gender violence. It is a criminal offence against humanity. So there is no room for us to be selective in our protest against rape and murder after judging caste, class and religion of the victims.

It is a shame that girls are being raped and targeted for sexual assault everyday in our country. Now what we see is that some people are even raising their voice in favour of criminals when the victim is an eight-year-old girl, who was abducted, raped and then killed.

We can recall the incident when Swami Vivekananda was in Kashmir during the period of Durga Puja in 1898. He worshipped a four-year-old poor, Kashmiri Muslim girl to defy the divisions of religion, caste and class to hoist the flag of humanity. What a shame that after 120 years of that instructive incident, some people of our country are defending the rape and murder of an eight-year-old poor Kashmiri Muslim girl to celebrate the divisions of religion, caste and class to hoist the flag of criminality. I wonder what Swami Vivekananda would have said, had he heard the arguments in favour of the killer rapists.

In one his famous poems, Rabindranath Tagore said, “He who commits wrong or condones the same, may your contempt singe like a reed in flame.” I do not know what he would have said, had he seen such a scenario of rallying behind brutal rapists and murderers.