How Not To React When A Dumka Gangrape-Like Case Emerges  

This week, a Spanish couple travelling in India made a shocking revelation that they had been robbed and sexually assaulted during their journey.

While the husband was beaten up, the woman was gang-raped by a group of seven men in the state of Jharkhand, the couple, who are in their late thirties, said in a video on Instagram. Their faces were full of bruises, and they were visibly shaken in the video.

They said the incident took place on Friday (1 March) night in the Kurumahat area of Dumka. It falls under the jurisdiction of Hansdiha police station.

In the now deleted video, the woman said, “Something has happened to us that we would not wish on anyone, seven men have raped me. They have beaten us and robbed us. Although, not many things, because they wanted to rape me. We are in hospital with the police, it happened tonight here in India.”

As per reports, the couple had camped in a semi-forested area, about two kilometres from the main road. They arrived in Kurumahat from West Bengal on a bike on Friday around 5 pm and were on their way to Nepal when they decided to spend the night at the spot.

After the incident, the couple spotted a police patrolling van in the area and were eventually escorted to the hospital by police on Friday night.

As per latest reports, the Jharkhand High Court took suo moto cognizance of the case, noting that the incident could tarnish India’s image globally. Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, Executive Chairman of Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (JHALSA), initiated these efforts, and Anil Kumar Mishra, Dumka’s principal district judge (PDJ) and chairman of the District Legal Services Authority, yesterday met the Spanish couple and conducted an inquiry. 

Contrary to these welcome steps, a section of social media users initially threw unsavoury comments at the couple over their allegations. Inspired by those comments, here is a list of remarks one ought not to make when such a disturbing case comes up:

Accuse complainants of defaming India

Unfortunately, this came from National Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma.

A journalist based in the United States took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the Jharkhand incident. David Josef Volodzko, in a long post on X, said, “The level of sexual aggression I witnessed while living in India for several years was unlike anywhere else I have ever been…”

He added, “I never met a female traveller who had not been groped or assaulted or worse, even if they had only been in the country for mere days. I love India. It is and always will be one of my favourite places in the world. But I have advised female friends who asked me not to travel there alone. This is a real problem in Indian society that warrants more attention and that I hope will improve in time.”

Rekha Sharma responded to his tweet, saying, “Did you ever report the incident to police? If not then you are totally an irresponsible person. Writing only on social media and defaming whole country is not a good choice.”

Sharma received a lot of flak on social media for her remark.

In such cases, reacting with scepticism or disbelief, suggesting that such accounts are exaggerated, can hurt the survivors and influence society's perception of sexual violence. It is essential to acknowledge the gravity of the crime and show empathy towards the victims rather than diminishing their experience.

Weaving divisive narratives 

A section of users spread a narrative that the perpetrators were Christian converts. Others said they were Muslims.

These narratives made a subtle suggestion that the rapists weren’t India’s majority community, that is, the Hindus. Notably, the perpetrators identified by the police so far are named Rajan Marandi, Pradeep Kisku and Sukhlal Hembrom.

Their religious affiliation is not known, but there is no evidence so far to suggest that the crime had any religious motives.

Focusing on the perpetrators' religion in this case is a distraction from the pursuit of justice. Using the incident as a tool to push ideological agendas should be avoided. This diverts attention from the actual issue and undermines the seriousness of the crime. The focus should remain on addressing the violence and supporting the victims rather than exploiting the situation for social media engagement.

Indulge in self-flagellation and self-hate

The Times of India put out a cartoon on the case to make a jibe at the popular Sanskrit phrase about treating guests as God – ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’, which means 'guest is God'.

Such jibes should be avoided. While it is natural for members of a community or nation to feel a sense of collective grief or disturbance following such heinous crimes, indulging in self-shame is not constructive.

Engaging in self-shame, where individuals or the community start internalizing the incident as a reflection of their personal or collective identities, does not contribute to solving the underlying issues. Instead, it can lead to a paralyzing sense of guilt rather than fostering proactive engagement in seeking solutions or supporting justice.

Such satire, while aimed at critiquing perceived societal failures, also misdirects the conversation toward national pride or identity rather than focusing on the essential issues of empathy, justice, and the need for systemic change to prevent such atrocities. 

Fail to focus on systemic change

While it is crucial to address and condemn individual incidents of violence, it is equally important to engage in discussions on how to implement systemic changes to prevent such crimes in the future.

Society must support survivors, hold perpetrators accountable, and work towards creating a safer environment for all individuals, regardless of their nationality or gender.

This involves addressing underlying issues such as the breakdown of law and order, lack of education and increasing sexualization of society, mainly promoted through perverted audio-video content on entertainment channels.