8 years ago
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A Rape Survivor in India Must Balance a Heavy Rock on Her Head to Prove Her Purity
After being denied an abortion following her rape, the woman has to maintain an 88-pound rock atop her head before she can live with her husband again. Following the rape, the woman was reportedly denied an abortion and then forced to give up the child to the government. Both the husband and wife wish to live together again, but she isn't allowed to unless she passes the purity test.
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Rape survivor asked to prove 'purity' in Gujarat
According to the societal norms, the woman has to keep a 40 kilogramme rock on her head to prove her purity.
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India needs to get their shit together on these human rights issues, this stuff is the fabric of a good society and if you can't do that right, then you're just a bunch of savages.
What about the rapist? I want to know what shit he has to do or do they just eliminate him? I got no words.............
According to this link the doctor who sedated and raped her was arrested but there aren't any details on what's become of him since then. His name is Jatin Mehta but all I can discover is that they're hoping the DNA of the fetus will be useful in convicting him so it seems he hasn't been brought to trial yet.
Wow! But yet she's got to prove herself with a dam heavy ass rock on her head, denied to be able to abort or keep? the child / fetus? I still got no words......................
The abortion issue has already been settled by local doctors, this is a tangential issue about the woman's worth based on religiously-inspired notions of purity. It seems that according to the Hindu legend, purity is something measured by the gods who will then show their will by performing miracles like allowing the victim to survive a fire or prevent her neck from snapping under the weight of a 40kg rock.
So are you actually born into these beliefs or are you forced into these beliefs? What about the rapist though, seems like he has pretty easy so far, he's alive and being fed I would think?
That's part of a larger conversation. It's described as a cultural norm but the practice originated from religious tradition so we have a chicken-or-egg situation. Either way I would point out that no one is born believing anything, practices like this are taught to us by parents and other authority figures as we grow up and learn about the world.
For the moment, yes. Under Indian law if he's convicted:
So an adult man can rape his 13 year old "wife" and walk away with nothing more than a fine. Disgusting.
*edit - added double quotes, because the formatting sort of gave the impression that I was quoting @spaceghoti
It's a very common attitude in many cultures. There are people in the US still trying to argue that rape is impossible between a husband and wife because marriage grants implicit consent at all times, or something.
Here is a link to a Reddit comment thread that explains the reasoning for this purity test. It's moderately long, but has some fascinating insight.
/u/wickedcoder256 beat me to it, so I'm linking to his snap for the attention it deserves.