A murder or a death sentence?

After being sexually harassed for three years, Rupam Pathak thought her miseries would come to an end and the guilty would be punished when she filed an FIR against the MLA of a district in Bihar. But her wait for justice seemed never ending and in a quest to punish the guilty, she stabbed the MLA to death this morning.

Prima facie it appears as an act of brutal murder. A school teacher is supposed to teach by example and killing a person would be the last example any society would want to set for its children and youth. But then, is it actually an example of murder or an example of punishing the guilty and hence preventing people from committing this heinous crime?

A similar case had been filed by another woman against this MLA a few years back. But thanks to our corrupt socio-political system, he was given a clean chit in that case. Had he been punished suitably in the first instance itself, Rupam would have been saved of her misery. This is not only true for this case but also for many cases being filed in India. We all know the famous Aarushi Murder Case. It is a shame that court has not been able to find the guilty till now. Or rather the guilty is powerful enough to tamper with the judicial system successfully every-time (s)he wishes to. In this scenario, I think Rupam was left with no other choice than to break the law and give justice to herself.

What is even more disheartening is the way politicians and media commented on this incident. Almost all articles have framed the incident as murder and have reported only one side of the story. No one has even hinted that this act could imply that patience level of the public is now peaking and soon such fate might be meted out to other such politicians. They should thus restrict their criminal activities and corruption and concentrate on doing what they are elected for. No one pointed the fact that if justice would continuously be delayed (and hence denied), people would be forced to break laws and punish the guilty in their own ways.

In my view, Rupam has given an apt reply to these sucking politicians and the sick judicial system.