TV actors blessed with daughters demand #JusticeForAsifa

Mumbai: An eight-year-old girl brutally gang raped for days, sedated for days, left without food, raped repeatedly in a temple and brutally murdered with a stone after the inhuman deeds. The girl, Asifa, never in her wildest dreams would have thought that when she would go out with her horses to graze them, it will be the biggest mistake of her life.

This gut-wrenching incident took place in Kashmir, three months ago. Till date, Asifa never got justice and she never became India’s daughter. The streets that were buzzed with vigils and candles four years ago, after the Nirbhaya incident, are silent today.

What breaks the heart is that till three months before, no one knew anything about Asifa. If it wasn’t the communal riots between the two prominent religions of the nation that occurred due to the episode, the incident wouldn’t have come to light.

In an attempt to bring justice to the eight-year-old child, business mortgage spoke to many TV actors who are also parents of daughters. Some spoke, while few tried to maintain a distance.

To give a momentum to the whole case, in a business mortgage exclusive; we tried bringing this gruesome act in front of the whole of Indian. Using the voice of these actors, we send across a message to the Indian lawmakers and government to bring justice to Asifa.

Vijayendra Kumeria

It is unfortunate and really not acceptable. It is so sad that it is happening in our country. You can’t really trust anyone these days. Being a father to a daughter, I’m just very scared. Reading whatever has happened in the recent past you tend to become paranoid. My daughter is small and she’ll soon start going to school. I have made sure that my daughter won’t go in a school bus. We’ll have our driver, taking her to the school accompanied by a maid. Not just girls, even small boys are getting assaulted, even they are not safe. I also have a nephew we are always scared about him as well. The question is whom do you trust when you are a working parent? All we could do is take our safety in our hands and take heavy precautions. I want to say this to the government to take these kind of cases very seriously, in fact, they should be mandatorily on fast tracks. I hope justice is prevailed.

Tannaz Irani

All rapists should be killed and hanged to death. If the government starts doing it for a year or two, all the rape cases will lower down. Instead of putting Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt behind the bar – which is absolutely rubbish, they should be focusing on punishing these rapists by either castrating or killing them.

It is very scary being a mother. I know the government will not do anything, so I need to bring that sense of security in my daughters. I don’t read papers, because I get completely frazzled by it. Do they understand all our Devi’s are women? What will you tell to an eight-year-old girl? She was wearing something wrong, that is why she got raped? Plus raping her in a temple, we are bringing all the sacrilege places down. All I know is these are monsters.

Iqbal Khan

Irrespective of where it has happened, I believe it is the biggest sin in the world. And people who are responsible for it, there’s only one punishment applicable to them. I feel for this one and only crime, we need to bring the Saudi law. They should be publicly hanged.

I don’t know how I safeguard my own daughter. You can’t always be with your child. So I rely on Allah and ask him to take care of my child. It should be a universal law that death is the quantum of the punishment. Only fear can suppress fear.

Indraneil Sengupta

Irrespective of whether I have a daughter, I’m married or I have a son or not, I get agitated hearing all this. This is inhuman, perverse, a psychological disorder, and beyond crimes. I don’t know how such people are human beings. It is beyond my comprehension. I don’t know if there’s any punishment that would undue things like that, or will be fitting for a crime like this.

It’s not only about daughters, such things happen to sons as well. Even boys are sodomized. And it has always happened just that, today we get to know about it because it is covered in media. Also I feel blaming the government is not right as well. Maybe we as citizens are too backward.

Gautami Kapoor

It is devastating to hear. I really don’t know what to say. I’m at a loss of words. I feel it is so important to raise your boys well. They need to be taught how to respect any women. I have seen many families that if a brother says something offensive to his sister, they have a very ‘chalta hai’ attitude. He should be corrected then and there. That’s the need of the hour.

Talking about the security, I’m preparing my daughter to take care of herself, and not rely on any external sources. Gone are the days, when someone would be there with you and defend you. It is really sad that nobody comes to your help.

I don’t think the Government reads news. It’s a sad state of affair, when you are concentrating on science and technology but nothing is being done to the basic right of the citizens – protection under any circumstances and safety of a woman. I genuinely feel terminal punishment should be given to the offenders. Something severe should be done otherwise nobody will learn a lesson. Even when the Nirbhaya case happened there was a huge hue and cry and then everything died down. Days later, another incident happened and then another. I really want media to make sure that this doesn’t die down without a purpose.

Romit Raj

I’m an avid newspaper reader. Not just this case, everyday there’s one or the other news that is very shameful. As an Indian citizen, I would request the Indian Government and lawmakers to make such strict law that if any child is even molested, raped or physically harmed, the accused man should be publicly hanged. He should be publicly beaten and made an example how strict the laws of our country are. I need that protection not just for my daughter but for every child and woman. There are so many such horrific news, for instance, an 85 year old woman was raped by a drunken man. This is what is happening in India. People are going berserk; they think they can get away with anything. Today I read about seven deaf and dumb girls being molested in a Karjat school. In Dubai the laws are stringent, rapists are publicly hanged. But if the same rule is brought in India, the fear will creep in. There is not a single newspaper that goes any day, without mentioning the rape of a child.

I don’t know why do we call India – Bharat Mata, when we are assaulting their daughters every day? Surely those who have committed these crimes don’t have their senses in places, so they are not eligible to be a part of a society, better they should be hanged to death.

Hiten Tejwani

It is extremely disturbing and shocking. This just shows that our women are not safe. Everything happened to her in a temple, so I don’t know what to say about this. How do you trust anybody? You have to be around your child all the time, but you can’t be. It’s not possible. They can’t be trusted with anyone. So everyone needs to take measure. For instance our schools have started taking security measures seriously.

I just want to say to the government that at least, give justice to the poor girl. Such cases should be taken on priority basis. The punishment should be severe that people will think twice before they even think of committing anything like this. For God’s sake she was an eight-year-old child; my heart goes out for that child.

The Kathua Gang rape incident is indeed another blot on the face of humanity and India. The question is for how long will all this happen? As, the celebrities rightly said, who is responsible for our safety?

The episode has not been heavily plastered on the TV screens by the media. This is a small initiative by business mortgage to bring this unfortunate incident under light and appeal the Indian Government to not just see into this matter but also the matter of safety of Indian women and children. How many Jessica, Nirbhaya and Asifa will have to sacrifice their lives for the better future of mankind?