Delhi rape & murder: Don’t deny child’s caste, says SC lawyer Mihira Sood
Supreme Court lawyer Mihira Sood said the child’s identity should not be denied in the Delhi rape and murder case.
The alleged gang rape, murder and forced cremation of a nine-year-old Dalit girl by the accused at Nangal village in Delhi's Cantonment area have sparked outrage.
India Today TV Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai spoke to Supreme Court lawyer Mihira Sood who said the child’s identity should not be denied in the Delhi rape and murder case.
Q: Post Nirbhaya, is the law more proactive? Cases still drag for years. This is the national capital and the case has more publicity
It’s not that simplistic. The Hathras case has got attention. There are many cases in Delhi that have not.
Q: Hathras is 100 km from Delhi. Will a case in Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand get the same kind of attention?
It’s said the girl’s caste is not relevant to this crime; a rape is a rape and we should all condemn it. Of course, all rapes are condemnable, but the fact of the matter is: even the law recognises uneven power relations as a fundamental aspect of sexual crimes. Power is at the heart of any kind of sexual assault.
The Verma committee recognises that the law has more severe punishment when the crime is committed by a person in a position of power or authority over a person who doesn’t have that kind of power and authority.
When you’re denying her identity as someone from an oppressed community, then it’s you who are politicising it, not anybody else. Her identity is extremely relevant. The perpetrators saw her as “rapeable”. Those who deny caste divisions are the ones looking for Hindu vote consolidation.
Read | From sexual assault to forced cremation: Timeline of events in Delhi minor rape case