Justice is the birthright of citizens and punishment is a mandatory condition for criminals. But why is the justice that victims should get spontaneously in a country that claims to be a democracy being made so complicated, expensive and out of reach? When a horrific incident occurs, how ironic is it that we always have to resort to street protests, sit-ins and rallies to draw the attention of the authorities and the judiciary for justice? We are currently going through a difficult situation of 'doubt in authority' and 'injustice'.

It is sad that so much distrust has been created by citizens in our own country's laws. This makes it clear that our country's judiciary has been indifferent to the issues of the oppressed, lower classes and gender since the past. The practice of those in power buying justice at any time and turning the victims away from justice and 'cleansing' the criminals has made the streets like a decisive force in even small incidents today. The situation of having to take to the streets and resorting to ‘hashtags’ to get justice is itself a sign of state failure.

When the scales of law are used to balance power rather than to measure justice, then the trust of the citizens is poured out on the streets. The ‘setting’ in our justice system is so deeply rooted that the poor and oppressed have started seeing sit-ins on the streets as more effective than going to court. This is the biggest shame for the democratic justice system.

A very cruel incident has recently taken place in Surkhet. Inisha, a 16-year-old girl from the Dalit community, who had left home to study tuition, was found dead in a very gruesome manner in a forest near the Bik Basti. The post-mortem report has confirmed that she died of excessive bleeding due to brutal sexual intercourse. Although the police arrested some teenagers in this incident, which was suspected of gang rape, the danger of justice going from the victim’s reach to the perpetrator’s lap at any time has not been averted. Especially in the case of Dalit community and women from weaker sections, the government and the judiciary have repeatedly lost trust in the past, and today citizens are forced to create pressure on the streets again.

The voice of justice is resonating from the capital to the mofussils. Such movements were not absent yesterday in the names of Nirmala Pant, Gulab Khatun, Bhagirathi Bhatta and Samjhana Kami. However, the repetition of such incidents in a row has raised a serious question. When social media and news channels are filled with details of the incident, why are criminals being motivated to commit crimes in groups out of ‘curiosity’ instead of being terrified?

As many have argued, social media shows the painful condition of the victim and the cries of the deranged family, but the plight of the perpetrators is never shown. The social and family turmoil of the perpetrators is never shown.

In the past, when some 'celebrity' criminals were released from prison, they were welcomed with flowers and their 'heroism' shone brightly, sending an even more wrong message to society. In such a situation, on the one hand, women are living in a tragedy of 'will I become another victim?' On the other hand, those who carry such criminal attitudes do not seem to be discouraged at all. I have spoken to many such teenagers who say that they are going through sleepless nights, fear and body shaking 'anxiety' after seeing the details of the incidents on social media. Why is the mental disturbance and fear created in teenagers by the impact of such incidents not being able to be created in those who carry a criminal mentality? This is a questionable subject.

Instead of scaring the criminals with the horrific images of the victims and videos of them crying on social media, they are looking for new ways to escape. The next 'digital movement' needs to focus on exposing the face of the perpetrator, not on protecting the privacy and dignity of the victim, but on protecting the victim's wounds. The media also needs to broadcast news of the identity, legal punishment, and social exclusion of the perpetrator, rather than just the cries of the victim, so that it instills fear in potential perpetrators.

Protests and movements are ongoing. However, to this day, there have been no examples of harsh punishments for the perpetrators involved in such sexual crimes. Nor have there been any cases where the accused of sexual crimes have faced social ostracism and exclusion. On the contrary, the narrative that the exploiter is the powerful and the exploited is the pathetic, poor, and shameful remains in society. The narratives that being a victim means being pitiful, shameful, and causing pain means being petty and powerful are not changing. The practice of criminals escaping with access to power or even going to jail after receiving a formal 'scab' punishment has not been able to instill fear in the criminal mentality. On the one hand, there has been sufficient opposition, on the other hand, the number of incidents has not decreased. This is pushing those who want justice to think seriously.

We know that the root of this is the patriarchal system. The 'unequal structural power balance' between women and men. It is the family and social practice of raising women weakly and developing men with a frenzy of 'power', which is making the female body a playground for rehearsing its frenzied power. It will take time to change this ideological and cultural pollution. But, are we ready to continue putting the lives of many of our teenage girls at risk until then? There are also efforts to break such ideological and cultural pollution. Cultural, social and political movements are playing a significant role in their respective places, but these efforts are not yet sufficient and effective.

The main thing is ‘power’. ‘Power’ that considers men as the main force. This truth cannot be denied. However, until this power structure is changed, it is not known how many women, teenagers and girls will continue to be at stake? How many more women will have to become victims while waiting for the power and structure to change?

It is too late to discuss the issue of identifying the perpetrators of heinous crimes like rape and amending the law to present examples of harsh punishment, even if it is by amending the law. Such a punishment should be a glimpse of it in the mind of the criminal before planning the crime. Otherwise, laws that protect criminals or give them a simple prison sentence will continue to encourage the attitude of criminals, and the practice of attacking and killing women and throwing them away will continue.

When an incident occurs, the streets heat up and then subside after some time! The production and reproduction of this series cannot ensure justice. Rather, it perpetuates the problem of justice being denied to the marginalized victims who have not come to light and have not been able to create pressure from the streets.

As long as a criminal does not feel the fear that ‘if I commit a crime, the state will find me and bring me back from anywhere and I will rot in jail’, such incidents will not only not end, but will also not be reduced. Street protests can awaken the government, but judicial activism and political will are essential for a permanent solution.