Child rape: Action at last

There has been punitive action at last against rapists in Bengaluru. The police was goaded into action to book the suspect in the rape of a six-year-old girl at a posh school, while its influential chairman has been arrested.

Had the authorities acted swiftly as soon as the news broke earlier this month, anxious parents would have had solace that the state was serious about providing security to women and children.

On top of this, the insensitivity of the state chief minister, who asked if the media had no issues other than rape to take up, betrayed a mindset that made things even more incendiary in an already highly charged and emotive climate.

Such disparaging statements about crimes against women were thought to be a monopoly of certain other parts of India, particularly the UP-Bihar belt, but the politician’s remark shows that a caveman’s cavalier attitude about sexual preying on women has few geographical limits.

Bengaluru was agog with the news of three sensational cases in July alone, and it would have seemed appropriate for any government to act swiftly to bring the culprits to book, while also being seen to help beef up measures to protect the youngest and the most helpless against being assaulted in the so-called temples of knowledge.

Vigilance and thorough precautionary measures represent the best methods to stave off what appears to be fast becoming a national pandemic and everyone must be on guard, specially governments, at the Centre as well as in the states.