"Girls are responsible for rape," said one idiot, ever.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not much of a fence sitter when it comes to current affairs. I tend not to sit back and bite my tongue at something that sparks an outrage inside of me, instead I prefer to take advantage of my position as a young, white, British citizen and bask in the glory of my right to exercise my freedom of speech. (That, and the fact that us Brits just love to have a good moan). Also, if you haven't yet detected my sarcastic flare then it's probably wise of me to advise you that this blog more than likely won't be of your taste.

However, I actually wanted to bring to light an [article] that I read earlier on today regarding the fatal assault and gang rape by six men on a 23-year-old female Physiotherapy student in South Delhi back in December 2012. I'm sure you're all more than aware of this story as the news coverage at the time was plentiful and the incident itself sparked national outrage, subsequently leading to public protests against not only the state but also the Union Government for failing to provide substantial and adequate security for women.

[image source]

Now, if you haven't yet read the aforementioned article, I suggest you do so before reading any further as there's a few points I want to raise regarding the content within it. But as you will see, the article is written about one of the six perpetrators convicted of gang raping and subsequently killing the 23-year-old known as "Jyoti". His name is Mukesh Singh, the driver of the bus that Jyoti and her male friend were travelling on when the attack occurred. He is also the brother of one of the men also convicted for participating in the attack, however Ram Singh was found dead in his jail cell a little under three months after the crime took place.

The surviving Singh brother [Mukesh] denies all involvement with the rape and assault that took place on December 16th 2012. Although, a little further reading wouldn't go amiss with this article as all it takes is a slight sniff and you'd soon be overwhelmed by the repulsive stench of complete bullshit that accompanies his "not-guilty" plea. He initially suggests that the victim's murder was "an accident" due to the simple laws of cause-and-effect; she shouldn't have been out at night... obviously. "A decent girl won't roam around at nine o'clock at night," he says, stating that "girls are far more responsible for rape than a boy. Boys and girls are not equal." Of course, why hadn't anyone informed me of this before? Men are superior, women are subordinate. We should really do something about that y'know, it's 2015 and times are changing; I'm sure there's something in today's day and age that opposes that belief? Does good, old-fashioned feminism ring a bell? How about egalitarianism? You know, recognising the fact that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities regardless of sex, gender, sexuality, race, religion and anything else that society manages to discriminate against?

That, however, is not the brunt of it all. Oh no, we're only getting started. Mr. Singh then goes on to say, "housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes." Ah, yes, absolutely! Silly Jyoti for going out partying and wearing "provocative" clothing to entice these savage rapists! She may as well have boarded that bus with a sign depicting the words "rape me", am I right Mukesh? Of course I'm not! And I'm absolutely bloody far from being right as the poor girl was actually travelling home from the cinema after watching the film "Life of Pi" with her friend. Thus, I'm 99.9% sure means that this particular victim was not out partying and doing "wrong things" and I'm absolutely sure she wouldn't have been wearing "wrong clothes" to the cinema. So how exactly was this disgusting attack her fault?

I have a suggestion: it wasn't. 

[image taken from BBC]

According to police reports, this poor girl was beaten with an iron rod whilst being raped. However, it didn't stop there... the assailants used the iron rod to penetrate her and cause extensive internal injuries that I can't even begin to imagine. Yet, she still fought back and managed to bite not just one but three of her attackers which I should hope would have sufficed as crucial evidence in identifying the perpetrators.

Mukesh Singh also went on to suggest that the victim should have "just be silent and allow the rape," insinuating that it was Jyoti's fault for attempting to fight off her attackers. I mean, who in their right mind would fight off someone who is sexually assaulting them, right? I would also like to mention how absolutely disgusting it is that the accused is placing the blame on the victim when she is no longer alive to give her side of the story. Much to the coward's delight, I expect.

This man is clearly oblivious to the fact that men get raped, too... by other men! *gasp* And it's probably just as prevalent in India as it is in England and Wales but sadly not reported due to laws and beliefs of the state. However, this does raise the point that Mr Singh's accusation that "girls are more responsible for rape than a boy," can be disposed of as irrelevant, uneducated trash.

In 2013, statistics stated that between 60,000 - 95,000 people are estimated to be victims of rape each year in England and Wales (with a mid-range estimate of 78,000). 15,670 of those 78,000 estimated offences actually become police recorded crimes where 3,850 of which proceed either to court or to an out-of-court disposal. 2,910 of those face court proceedings and only 1,070 are actually convicted of rape and sentenced.

[Information sourced from the Ministry of Justic, Home Office and the Office of National Statistics]