Calcutta Teen Gang-Raped and Burned alive, as India's rape culture flourishes

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Teen+gang+raped+twice+burned+alive+India/9350469/story.html

[Sbane]

The attempted cover up by the government in power in the state right now makes this even more interesting. West Bengal used to be a fairly safe, if poor, place back in the day. That has changed with Mamata coming in to power and her gangs running loose.

[Sbane]

Also, I don't like the implication that there is anything particularly Indian about this. sh**t like this happens to vulnerable women all over the world, including right here in America. The only difference is that there are many more poor, vulnerable women in India. This girl was Bihari living in a poor exurb of Calcutta without a network of support, which made her vulnerable to this attack. And the men had the government with them which made them think they could get away with murdering her. In the first days, her death was ruled a suicide.

[politicus]

Also, I don't like the implication that there is anything particularly Indian about this. sh**t like this happens to vulnerable women all over the world, including right here in America. The only difference is that there are many more poor, vulnerable women in India. This girl was Bihari living in a poor exurb of Calcutta without a network of support, which made her vulnerable to this attack. And the men had the government with them which made them think they could get away with murdering her. In the first days, her death was ruled a suicide.

While thats true as a general statement, Indian certainly has more problems, than, say, all Buddhist countries. Culture does play a role in this.

She did live with her family, so she wasnt totally without a network. But yea, poor, minority background is of course a major risk factor.

That the doctors refused to tranfer her to a burns unit is disgusting.

On a side note: Has West Bengal ever had a non-horrible government? What is it about the state, that makes it elect truely vile people as chief ministers. Poverty alone cant explain it.

[Gustaf]

Also, I don't like the implication that there is anything particularly Indian about this. sh**t like this happens to vulnerable women all over the world, including right here in America. The only difference is that there are many more poor, vulnerable women in India. This girl was Bihari living in a poor exurb of Calcutta without a network of support, which made her vulnerable to this attack. And the men had the government with them which made them think they could get away with murdering her. In the first days, her death was ruled a suicide.

While thats true as a general statement, Indian certainly has more problems, than, say, all Buddhist countries. Culture does play a role in this.

She did live with her family, so she wasnt totally without a network. But yea, poor, minority background is of course a major risk factor.

That the doctors refused to tranfer her to a burns unit is disgusting.

On a side note: Has West Bengal ever had a non-horrible government? What is it about the state, that makes it elect truely vile people as chief ministers. Poverty alone cant explain it.

Cambodia begs to disagree.

[Sbane]

Also, I don't like the implication that there is anything particularly Indian about this. sh**t like this happens to vulnerable women all over the world, including right here in America. The only difference is that there are many more poor, vulnerable women in India. This girl was Bihari living in a poor exurb of Calcutta without a network of support, which made her vulnerable to this attack. And the men had the government with them which made them think they could get away with murdering her. In the first days, her death was ruled a suicide.

While thats true as a general statement, Indian certainly has more problems, than, say, all Buddhist countries. Culture does play a role in this.

She did live with her family, so she wasnt totally without a network. But yea, poor, minority background is of course a major risk factor.

That the doctors refused to tranfer her to a burns unit is disgusting.

On a side note: Has West Bengal ever had a non-horrible government? What is it about the state, that makes it elect truely vile people as chief ministers. Poverty alone cant explain it.

If the problem is cultural (in a religious sense), then wouldn't Buddhist countries have a similar problem? I know I shouldn't expect a lot from someone who posts such ignorant things, but Buddhism came from India. Buddhism is similar to Hinduism except without the entrenched hierarchy in society. That is the main difference. The Buddha wasn't some crusader for women's rights (not to say he was bad on women's rights, just that he didn't speak about it as distinct from general human rights.)

The problem is cultural though, but it doesn't have anything to do with religion as you seem to imply. South India doesn't have these problems. Even Bengal didn't have these problems. North India on the other hand is different and has not been a safe place for women for a long time now. North India has a macho, paternalistic culture which is an excellent breeding ground for this sort of behavior. Bengal doesn't have that sort of culture though, which is why the increase in this sort of behavior there is disturbing. If you are trying to say that Buddhism encourages a less paternalistic culture than Hinduism, then you need to justify that. I would like to see you make that case.

Bengal used to have a decent government till the 1960's and the naxalite movement. The congress government lost their soul fighting the naxals (widespread police abuses) and then the CPM came to power. And since then the CPM has held power until a few years ago, when Mamata came into power using populist CPM tactics. Bengal is an intensely political state and everything has a political tinge to it including crime. Criminals are useful for political parties to get something done without a political backlash. But sometimes criminals do, well, criminal things like this rape case, and the government finds itself in trouble. This is especially the case here since the CPM controlled unions are now helping and protecting the family of the rape victim.

As for why doctors didn't transfer her...if it was a government hospital...well you get the idea. The police also tried to forcibly cremate her against her parent's wishes. The government wanted to get rid of the evidence.

[Frodo]

Also, I don't like the implication that there is anything particularly Indian about this. sh**t like this happens to vulnerable women all over the world, including right here in America. The only difference is that there are many more poor, vulnerable women in India. This girl was Bihari living in a poor exurb of Calcutta without a network of support, which made her vulnerable to this attack. And the men had the government with them which made them think they could get away with murdering her. In the first days, her death was ruled a suicide.

While thats true as a general statement, Indian certainly has more problems, than, say, all Buddhist countries. Culture does play a role in this.

She did live with her family, so she wasnt totally without a network. But yea, poor, minority background is of course a major risk factor.

That the doctors refused to tranfer her to a burns unit is disgusting.

On a side note: Has West Bengal ever had a non-horrible government? What is it about the state, that makes it elect truely vile people as chief ministers. Poverty alone cant explain it.

If the problem is cultural (in a religious sense), then wouldn't Buddhist countries have a similar problem? I know I shouldn't expect a lot from someone who posts such ignorant things, but Buddhism came from India. Buddhism is similar to Hinduism except without the entrenched hierarchy in society. That is the main difference. The Buddha wasn't some crusader for women's rights (not to say he was bad on women's rights, just that he didn't speak about it as distinct from general human rights.)

The problem is cultural though, but it doesn't have anything to do with religion as you seem to imply. South India doesn't have these problems. Even Bengal didn't have these problems. North India on the other hand is different and has not been a safe place for women for a long time now. North India has a macho, paternalistic culture which is an excellent breeding ground for this sort of behavior. Bengal doesn't have that sort of culture though, which is why the increase in this sort of behavior there is disturbing. If you are trying to say that Buddhism encourages a less paternalistic culture than Hinduism, then you need to justify that. I would like to see you make that case.

Bengal used to have a decent government till the 1960's and the naxalite movement. The congress government lost their soul fighting the naxals (widespread police abuses) and then the CPM came to power. And since then the CPM has held power until a few years ago, when Mamata came into power using populist CPM tactics. Bengal is an intensely political state and everything has a political tinge to it including crime. Criminals are useful for political parties to get something done without a political backlash. But sometimes criminals do, well, criminal things like this rape case, and the government finds itself in trouble. This is especially the case here since the CPM controlled unions are now helping and protecting the family of the rape victim.

As for why doctors didn't transfer her...if it was a government hospital...well you get the idea. The police also tried to forcibly cremate her against her parent's wishes. The government wanted to get rid of the evidence.

That's interesting -why do you think North India has more of a patriarchal culture than South India?  More Muslim influence? 

[Sbane]

Also, I don't like the implication that there is anything particularly Indian about this. sh**t like this happens to vulnerable women all over the world, including right here in America. The only difference is that there are many more poor, vulnerable women in India. This girl was Bihari living in a poor exurb of Calcutta without a network of support, which made her vulnerable to this attack. And the men had the government with them which made them think they could get away with murdering her. In the first days, her death was ruled a suicide.

While thats true as a general statement, Indian certainly has more problems, than, say, all Buddhist countries. Culture does play a role in this.

She did live with her family, so she wasnt totally without a network. But yea, poor, minority background is of course a major risk factor.

That the doctors refused to tranfer her to a burns unit is disgusting.

On a side note: Has West Bengal ever had a non-horrible government? What is it about the state, that makes it elect truely vile people as chief ministers. Poverty alone cant explain it.

If the problem is cultural (in a religious sense), then wouldn't Buddhist countries have a similar problem? I know I shouldn't expect a lot from someone who posts such ignorant things, but Buddhism came from India. Buddhism is similar to Hinduism except without the entrenched hierarchy in society. That is the main difference. The Buddha wasn't some crusader for women's rights (not to say he was bad on women's rights, just that he didn't speak about it as distinct from general human rights.)

The problem is cultural though, but it doesn't have anything to do with religion as you seem to imply. South India doesn't have these problems. Even Bengal didn't have these problems. North India on the other hand is different and has not been a safe place for women for a long time now. North India has a macho, paternalistic culture which is an excellent breeding ground for this sort of behavior. Bengal doesn't have that sort of culture though, which is why the increase in this sort of behavior there is disturbing. If you are trying to say that Buddhism encourages a less paternalistic culture than Hinduism, then you need to justify that. I would like to see you make that case.

Bengal used to have a decent government till the 1960's and the naxalite movement. The congress government lost their soul fighting the naxals (widespread police abuses) and then the CPM came to power. And since then the CPM has held power until a few years ago, when Mamata came into power using populist CPM tactics. Bengal is an intensely political state and everything has a political tinge to it including crime. Criminals are useful for political parties to get something done without a political backlash. But sometimes criminals do, well, criminal things like this rape case, and the government finds itself in trouble. This is especially the case here since the CPM controlled unions are now helping and protecting the family of the rape victim.

As for why doctors didn't transfer her...if it was a government hospital...well you get the idea. The police also tried to forcibly cremate her against her parent's wishes. The government wanted to get rid of the evidence.

That's interesting -why do you think North India has more of a patriarchal culture than South India?  More Muslim influence? 

North India has been more vulnerable to invasions due to the presence of the Khyber pass. Although trade has happened in South India for millenia, no one until the British and other Europeans tried to colonize that area. The Kushan empire and Alexander the great tried to colonize parts of north India. Then of course the Islamic invasions came after that. This led to north India being more warlike, and consequently having a more macho, paternalistic culture than the rest of India.

[Famous Mortimer]

The North is more upper-caste.

[Sbane]

The North is more upper-caste.

Caste tensions are higher in the north, also lending itself to a more adversarial culture. I don't think the north is more upper-caste or anything like that, just that caste matters more up north than it does in the south.