Stop this shame!!!

2012 - The year started with the heart wrenching stories of baby Falak and Afreen and ends with the tragic stop to a young life Damini, Nirbhaya or Amaanat - whatever you chose to call the brave soul. While they were set in different circumstances, all share a common sentiment - of hurt, of shame and of indomitable courage. The hell they lived through, is a testament of how low has the human stooped. The world watched helplessly as the innocent lives fought in their struggle for life before they could take no more. They affected most of us. We rallied for stringent laws, better and responsible policing, faster judicial processes but is that going to be enough? The ones who committed the ghastly, inhuman crimes, were one among us. As a society, we have failed ourselves. Always believed that a child's first school is his home and his first role models are his parents. We live a paradoxical society, where on one hand we worship female forms and consider them symbols of strength, wisdom and prosperity and on the other, the women folk are considered second in the patriarch driven society. Every other day, we come across battered women who are ill-treated in their family, and in the society at large. While we all condemn such ill-practices, they still continue unhindered, unabated. If we wish to see an end to the crimes against women, we need to change, we need to teach our children to value and respect life. If not, no matter what measures we take, there'll never be an end to it.

Damini, every girl in the society relates to your pain. It's never been easy being a girl in this country. Most girls in the country have had their helpless moments, some were lucky to escape, while some where not, some lived to fight, while some could fight no more. But the pain you've been through in this brief life you've lived, is unthinkable to say the least. Yet, the strength you have shown is an inspiration for all of us. May you be at peace now and find your rightful place among the angels.