While none less than the chief minister of the state praised the woman who chopped off the genitals of the godman who exploited her sexually since she was a minor on the context of religious rituals, the accused seems to have not given up his ground.
Fifty-four-year-old Hari Swami alias Gangananda Theerthapatha has told the police that it was he himself and not the woman who had committed the act. Hari said he himself cut off his genitals because he did not require them. The police, however, were not convinced and said the godman was making up his own version to avoid embarrasment and legal challenges.
'No punishment could have been bigger'
The horrific incident which happened in Thiruvananthapuram has earned the woman praises from various quarters, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. While the CM called the woman "courageous", he also laughed over what had happened to the godman, saying: "No punishment could have been bigger than that."
Hari was accused by the woman who hit back at him with a hidden knife the moment he made sexual advances of assaulting her for five years on the pretext of rituals. The godman allegedly took advantage of the family's ill fortunes and frequented it to perform pujas and rituals to help it overcome challenges.
Kerala has been witnessing instances of people involved with religious practices targeting and sexually assaulting women. In February, a priest of a church in Kerala's Kannur district was arrested on charges of impregnating a 16-year-old girl. The matter came to the open after the latter delivered a boy.
IBT analysis:
Although these instances speak volume about the exploitation of women and the State's apathy towards protecting their honour on several occasions, certain similarities in these cases, irrespective of the religion also point at something more sinister.
In the Thiruvananthapuram case, it was reported that the horror went on for over years and that the police have said that the mother of the helpless woman knew about it. Also, in the Kannur district incident, it was reported that the minor's family had tried to save the church and the father and even tried to take the blame on itself.
This raises the question on the families' moral virtues and find them no less at fault than the predators and the law-keeping agencies of the State. Sacrificing the female child of the family for its own good or that of an institution reflects a horrific mindset.
What is even more shocking is that a state like Kerala, which is one of the most educated ones in the country and where the 'non-believer' communists have a legacy, is witnessing these gross violation of human lives and rights without a pause.
