During festival celebrations of past few days, I missed out horrible news of two murders which are enduring reminders of shocking inhumanity. In a city that never sleeps; amid all the buoyant energy that floated in anticipation of festival time, two lives were taken mercilessly, in front of a large crowd! Keenen Santos and Rueben Fernandes, were butchered while they bravely fought for the honour of their lady friends.
It was just like any other day when they got together with their buddies and went out for dinner when some hooligans passed lewd remarks for the female friends in the group. The argument escalated beyond comprehension and within minutes, two precious lives were lost! Every time, I look at the pictures of Keenen and Rueben, I feel terrible thinking about the trauma their friends (who were with them on the day, this tragedy occurred) and family must be undergoing. No words can ever console loss of a loved one and when death arrives in such gruesome manner, it is even harder to cope up with all the pain it entails.
In a nation where women are subjected to atrocious acts like rape, abuse, acid attacks, burning, dowry deaths, female infanticide etc, an incident like eve teasing sounds too "routine", isn't it? None of these heinous crimes I mentioned, really shame us. We have mastered the art of conveniently ignoring this uncomfortable truth of our society. Why get involved "unnecessarily"? It is not happening to "us", isn't it ? Think again.
While Keenen and Rueben were being slaughtered; there was a crowd of more than fifty people watching the atrocities inflicted by hooligans. Was there some entertainment show going on? How can people just watch spinelessly and do nothing to reach out to save someone's life? Even the passing vehicles stopped for some time and left! Out of all those people gathered there, not a single soul took initiative to help Keenen and Rueben! This fact pains me as much as loss of two precious lives.
What kind of society we are becoming? With Keenen and Rueben I witnessed death of basic humanness that connects us all. I bemoan lack of will and vigilance that any civilized society should display and be accountable for. It is deeply saddening that we still lack the basic education in humanity.
I hope and pray that this case doesn't die out after creating sensation for media and helping them create good TRPs. I hope that we don't stop at lighting candles and protests. If we truly wish to stop the menace of eve teasing and sexual perversion/abuse, we need to STOP being silent spectators to such heinous crimes. We need to stop being afraid of getting involved with police. We need to ACT when necessary.
RIP Keenen and Rueben. I am very proud of what you did for your friends. May God grant your families and loved ones immense strength to cope up with your loss.
In a nation where women are subjected to atrocious acts like rape, abuse, acid attacks, burning, dowry deaths, female infanticide etc, an incident like eve teasing sounds too "routine", isn't it? None of these heinous crimes I mentioned, really shame us. We have mastered the art of conveniently ignoring this uncomfortable truth of our society. Why get involved "unnecessarily"? It is not happening to "us", isn't it ? Think again.
While Keenen and Rueben were being slaughtered; there was a crowd of more than fifty people watching the atrocities inflicted by hooligans. Was there some entertainment show going on? How can people just watch spinelessly and do nothing to reach out to save someone's life? Even the passing vehicles stopped for some time and left! Out of all those people gathered there, not a single soul took initiative to help Keenen and Rueben! This fact pains me as much as loss of two precious lives.
What kind of society we are becoming? With Keenen and Rueben I witnessed death of basic humanness that connects us all. I bemoan lack of will and vigilance that any civilized society should display and be accountable for. It is deeply saddening that we still lack the basic education in humanity.
I hope and pray that this case doesn't die out after creating sensation for media and helping them create good TRPs. I hope that we don't stop at lighting candles and protests. If we truly wish to stop the menace of eve teasing and sexual perversion/abuse, we need to STOP being silent spectators to such heinous crimes. We need to stop being afraid of getting involved with police. We need to ACT when necessary.
RIP Keenen and Rueben. I am very proud of what you did for your friends. May God grant your families and loved ones immense strength to cope up with your loss.
