Paradox of Untouchability
I was not untouchable then? ~Kandswamy Rape erases caste boundaries, as the victim becomes "touchable" to her attacker ; paradoxically strips away the untouchability. A 14-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly abducted from her house, gang-raped and killed in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar. Her body was found in a semi-naked condition in a pond. Her mouth was gagged and there were several injuries and bloodstains on her body. She was hacked to death with a sickle and the accused in the crime is suspected to be a youth from her village in Bihar. She was injured in three places, including her face, back of neck and hand as she refused to get married to him. The heinous acts committed against a young Dalit girl in Bihar represent the systemic oppression and deeply rooted caste hierarchy that continues to plague our society everyday. This is not merely a series of isolated incidents, but the prevalent structural violence that subjugates marginalized communities, particularly Dalit wom...