‘Social justice is indispensable for post-rape rehabilitation’
Simara: A documentary exhibition and interaction program was held in Birgunj on Tuesday on the role of stakeholders and the general public in rehabilitating the victims of rape.
In the interaction program organized by Samyak Sanchar Pvt. Ltd., the victims of rape, the torture they had to go through to get justice and the inability to be easily reintegrated into the society after getting justice were discussed.
After the exhibition of the documentary prepared by adding the theme of the rape incident, the participants have focused on the topic and discussed. During the discussion, the victims of rape and the people who were acquitted in the incident of rape were discussed.
An interactive discussion was held on the issue of rejection of rape victims in the society even if they want to be reintegrated in the society and should be displaced from the society in terms of hatred. Citing the example of rape victims who had to be displaced due to inability to be rehabilitated, the participants raised the issue of being displaced due to injustice done by the society even though the victim received justice from the court. The participants were of the view that the general public should be serious in order to prevent the victims from receiving justice from the courts.
Salma Khatun, former deputy chief of Pokhariya Municipality, who participated in the program, said that there was no ‘safe house’ to keep the victim immediately after the incident. “The victims have been stranded since the incident. “There is no building to house the victim immediately,” Khatun said. Therefore, it is important to prepare the infrastructure of the safe house. ‘
Mamata Mahato, vice-chairperson of Paterwasugauli village, who participated in the program, said that everyone has a common responsibility to rehabilitate the victims of rape. She maintained that every sector should fulfill its responsibility responsibly so as not to let the morale of the victims of the incident decline.
In the program organized in the presence of the heads and responsible officials of the concerned bodies, the participants had inquired about the various problems including the torture and financial burden to be borne for justice.
Chief District Officer of Parsa Umesh Dhakal, Superintendent of Police of Parsa Ramesh Basnet, Deputy Registrar of High Court Janakpur Temporary Session Birgunj Keshav Poudel, District Attorney of District Government Attorney’s Office Parsa Padmaraj Karki, President of Federation of Nepali Journalists Parsa Anup Tiwari, Facilitator Journalist Ghanshyam Khadka, Psychiatrist Bharat Goit were present on the occasion , OCMC Coordinator Hema Thapa shared her views with the participants.
Responding to the queries of the participants, the heads and officials of the concerned bodies said that the cooperation between the state machinery and the general public would be very important to create an environment where the victims of rape can be easily rehabilitated. The representative of the concerned body said that other positive activities including vocational training could be carried out to create an environment for the victims of rape to be rehabilitated in the society, to raise their morale and become self-reliant.
