Editorial: Safety myth

The year 2024 ended on a rather ominous note, considered in the backdrop of two specific news items that entrenched itself in our collective consciousness. The first one, and the more harrowing of the two involves Gisèle Pelicot, a 71-year-old French woman who was drugged by her now ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, over the course of a decade so that she could be raped by dozens of men in a state of unconsciousness. The court in the Avignon handed down sentences ranging from three to 15 years’ imprisonment for the 50 men found guilty of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault, while Gisele’s ex-husband said he won’t appeal his 20-year prison sentence.

Pelicot, who has now become a symbol of France’s fight against sexual violence, is a survivor unlike any other. Her trial spurred an international reckoning on the blight of sexual assault. Dominique Pelicot is known to have spiked his wife’s meals with tranquilisers to render her unconscious. He went on to invite strangers he met online to take part in rape and abuse fantasies which he acted out with them and filmed in the couple’s retirement home in the town of Mazan. The episode has opened a Pandora’s Box vis-a-vis the concepts of intimate partner violence, sexual deviance, the proliferation of extreme pornography devoid of safety nets and the insensitivity of the general populace at large, when addressingcrimes of a sexual nature.

The second development, which transpired here in Chennai, evokes another nightmare, although in an academic setting. In December, a second year engineering student at the Anna University was sexually assaulted in the varsity campus by a 37-year-old man who has several criminal cases against him. This time around, the assailant had hoped to silence the victim by brandishing footage of the assault, which he threatened to make public. What was utterly shocking about this incident was the fact that the perpetrator of the crime had been arrested in 2011 for his involvement in a similar incident in the same campus.

In the aftermath of the episode, harsh criticisms have been levelled against the varsity’s security infrastructure, which many students bemoaned was not up to the mark. Complaints were raised regarding the poorly lit pathways within the campus as well as the diminished frequency of patrolling within the premises. The pain points were glaring and rightfully deserving of the anger of parents and students who did not feel safe in their own campus. Members of the faculty have called for implementation of an access control mechanism, and a vehicle pass system, similar to the one at IITMadras. Of course, the question of enforcement looms large in all such campuses that are open to the general public, where stakeholders say that it might practically be unfeasible to frisk and check each and every visitor.

It takes very little to dent Chennai’s moniker of being one of the safest cities for women, a notion that we had prided ourselves on for a long time. It is also worth noting that nationally so far, approximately 74% of the total amount allocated under Nirbhaya Fund has been released or utilised by the Ministries/ Departments/Implementing Agencies, as per a questionnaire prepared last year by the Ministry Of Women And Child Development. The recent episode only underscores the need for adopting a robust approach to women’s safety, sans bottlenecks and inordinate delays.