Another day, another nightmare. Another innocent childhood shattered. Another parent’s world reduced to ashes. And once again, we find ourselves asking the same hollow question that has become tragically routine: Where are we heading? On Wednesday, we learned that a Class 7 student in Poonch district was allegedly raped repeatedly by a cab driver and his friend after being held captive for three days. Three days. Let that sink in. Three days of unimaginable terror for a child who simply wanted to return home.
The accused have been arrested. The law will take its course. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the POCSO Act will be invoked. But what about the child? What about the nightmares that will haunt her for the rest of her life? What about the family that will never feel safe again? Just days ago, we were horrified by a similar incident in Kishtwar. A young life violated. A community shaken. And now, before the wounds from that tragedy could even begin to heal, Poonch gives us fresh cause for outrage and despair.
Are we becoming desensitized? Are we simply reading these headlines over morning tea, shaking our heads in momentary disgust, and then moving on with our lives as if nothing happened? Every time such an incident is reported, we hear the same promises: “Strict action will be taken,” “The accused will not be spared,” “We will ensure justice.” But where is the preventive action? Where is the systemic change? Where is the collective introspection that this society so desperately needs?
These are not isolated incidents committed by “madmen” or “monsters” who appeared from nowhere. These are men who walk among us, who live in our neighborhoods, who drive our cabs, who smile at our children. They are products of a society that has failed to teach them that a child’s body is not a playground for their perversions.
It takes a village to raise a child, they say. But it also takes a village to protect that child. Where is our village? We cannot keep blaming the system alone. The system is us. We are the system. Every time we remain silent about inappropriate behavior, every time we dismiss uncomfortable conversations about safety, every time we fail to teach our boys respect and consent, we become complicit.
The police have acted swiftly. Credit where it’s due. But swift action after the crime is not enough. We need swift action before the crime. We need prevention, not just punishment.
Let us think about that girl for a moment. A Class 7 student. Barely a teenager. Her dreams, her innocence, her trust in the world, all stolen in three days of captivity and repeated assault. What will her life look like now? What kind of trauma will she carry? What kind of society has told her, through its actions and inactions, that she is not safe even on the streets of her own hometown?
We are heading towards a future where fear becomes a permanent companion for our children. We are heading towards a society where parents will have to accompany their daughters everywhere, not because they want to, but because they have to.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. We need stricter monitoring of commercial vehicle drivers. We need mandatory background checks. We need safety protocols that are not just pieces of paper but are actually implemented. We need community vigilance that goes beyond just Facebook groups and WhatsApp forwards.
Most importantly, we need to change the conversation. We need to teach our sons that no means no. We need to teach our daughters that their bodies are their own. We need to create an environment where survivors can speak without fear of judgment, and where perpetrators know they will face consequences that are swift, certain, and severe.
We have to do better. We have to be better. Because if we don’t, we will keep asking the same question after every new incident, where are we heading? And we all know that answer will only get more terrifying.
