PATNA: Social scientists are alarmed at an uncanny incident reported from Bihar’s Buxur district wherein a man was found raping his two minor daughters for years on the advice of a tantrik (occultist) “to have a son”.
On Tuesday, a local POCSO court in Buxur district awarded life term to the accused father Binod Kumar Singh and Tantrik Ajay Kumar while handing down 20 years imprisonment to the rape survivors’ mother and aunt who instigated the accused persons for rape.
The minor sisters were being sexually harassed for the past one decade until they reported the matter to the police which acted and registered the case.
“Such incident is quite disturbing and unless appropriate action is taken, it will destroy the pious social values,” prominent social scientist Prof Sachindra Narayan said on Thursday.
Describing illiteracy as the root-cause behind such incidents in society, Narayan who served at the AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies said daughters are excelling in every field but the people still “discriminate between sons and daughters.”
“The people must know that our girls have been toppers in Civil Services Exams and more than 100 women scientists played a significant role in the soft-landing of Vikram on the moon. We must be proud of them,” Narayan said. Women secured the top four slots in Civil Services Exam 2022.
Another social scientist Prof BN Prasad said such incidents will go on until the patriarchal value system is sufficiently challenged by the women.
“This (incident) is not gender discrimination; rather it is the outcome of the existing patriarchal system, and until it is challenged by the women themselves, such things will continue,” Prasad warned.
“The general beliefs are that daughters are ‘paraya dhan’ (someone else’s wealth) and deplete resources while sons are considered natural inheritors of father’s properties and also hold the special right to light the funeral pyres of their parents. These things continue at a time when we have landed on the Moon and launched a mission to study the Sun,” Prasad wondered.
Police said the accused father who had only two daughters had consulted a local Tantrik to have a son in 2012 after which the latter advised him to “rape his own daughters”.
Luckily, the accused had a son later but the Tantrik expressed threats to boy’s life, and again advised him to rape her, reports said. Later, the Tanrik too began raping the girls.
After mustering courage, the sisters fled from their home in May last year and reported the matter to the local police which swung into action and ordered a speedy trial in the case which ultimately landed all the accused persons in jail.
(The victims’ identities have not been revealed to protect their privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
On Tuesday, a local POCSO court in Buxur district awarded life term to the accused father Binod Kumar Singh and Tantrik Ajay Kumar while handing down 20 years imprisonment to the rape survivors’ mother and aunt who instigated the accused persons for rape.
The minor sisters were being sexually harassed for the past one decade until they reported the matter to the police which acted and registered the case.
“Such incident is quite disturbing and unless appropriate action is taken, it will destroy the pious social values,” prominent social scientist Prof Sachindra Narayan said on Thursday.
Describing illiteracy as the root-cause behind such incidents in society, Narayan who served at the AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies said daughters are excelling in every field but the people still “discriminate between sons and daughters.”
“The people must know that our girls have been toppers in Civil Services Exams and more than 100 women scientists played a significant role in the soft-landing of Vikram on the moon. We must be proud of them,” Narayan said. Women secured the top four slots in Civil Services Exam 2022.
Another social scientist Prof BN Prasad said such incidents will go on until the patriarchal value system is sufficiently challenged by the women.
“This (incident) is not gender discrimination; rather it is the outcome of the existing patriarchal system, and until it is challenged by the women themselves, such things will continue,” Prasad warned.
“The general beliefs are that daughters are ‘paraya dhan’ (someone else’s wealth) and deplete resources while sons are considered natural inheritors of father’s properties and also hold the special right to light the funeral pyres of their parents. These things continue at a time when we have landed on the Moon and launched a mission to study the Sun,” Prasad wondered.
Police said the accused father who had only two daughters had consulted a local Tantrik to have a son in 2012 after which the latter advised him to “rape his own daughters”.
Luckily, the accused had a son later but the Tantrik expressed threats to boy’s life, and again advised him to rape her, reports said. Later, the Tanrik too began raping the girls.
After mustering courage, the sisters fled from their home in May last year and reported the matter to the local police which swung into action and ordered a speedy trial in the case which ultimately landed all the accused persons in jail.
(The victims’ identities have not been revealed to protect their privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)