Rape videos being sold in India, as if being raped was not enough

In May 2017, the Supreme court of India upheld the death sentence for the convicts of the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case of 2012.The entire country celebrated this decision. It rekindled a hope into millions that their swinging bodies would send out a clear message to the likes of those four men. And that, seeing the consequences that Nirbhaya’s convicts had to deal with, nobody would ever dare to commit such a crime ever again.

But how wrong we were. Unfortunately, this rape culture has grown so deep into the very fabric of our society, that we aren’t shocked anymore.

Today rapes are not just committed, they are glorified with the sale and viewership of rape videos. Yes, you read that right! In Uttar Pradesh, one can quite easily buy videos of women being raped, from all across the country, at very cheap prices ranging from Rs 20 to Rs 200 and receive them in their mobile phone within seconds. These “local films” as they call it, last from 30 seconds to 5 minutes and are sold below the counter at various kiosks across the state, very cautiously.

Usually, these videos are made to blackmail the rape victims so that do not file any complaint against them in the police station. However, they sell it to these shopkeepers anyway. Sometimes, these videos are even stolen from the phones of people who film them. And as soon as a video reaches a trader, it spreads like a fire to other parts of the country through Whatsapp. More often than not, these footages are described as pornography by many of those involved in this dark trade.

What is more surprising, is that when the media approached the local police, they seemed pretty oblivious about this practice. It was only after the pressure from media persons and anti-rape activists, that the police sprung into action. While they arrested some of the traders who were selling such videos, they were soon out on bail and possibly back to the trade.

We can’t even imagine what a rape victim goes through. Not only do they live in constant fear, but also bear the societal shaming for the rest of their life. Now imagine, what happens to the victims whose videos are being sold in the market? It’s a heinous crime, and just jail and bail is not justifiable. A concrete action plan along with a provision of strict punishment is needed to deal with this.