Due to its prevalence in the media as of lately, rape and India have unfortunately been linked together. on Monday, there was yet another case of rape. A young woman in West Bengal had accepted an exogamous marriage proposal in which the panchayat (village council) had--to put it lightly--responded unkindly. Since this was an intercaste marriage, the village council had initially asked the woman's family to pay a fine of 27,000 rupees ($447), but when the family refused to pay, the village chief, Balai Mardi, ordered villagers "to enjoy her," according to one of the police officers. The young woman was then repeatedly raped in Mr. Mardi's hut. Since Monday, there have been 13 arrests made in the case despite the village chief's threat of burning down her house if she were to call the police. One of the leaders from a nearby village named Sunil Soren made sure to comment that they "respect [their] women a lot," but this was an "objectionable situation" because events like this "pollute the minds of youngsters."
1. Do you think endogamy perpetuates caste stratification or preserves a way of living and creates social order?
2. Do you think intercaste marriages should be allowed on the basis of your answer prior question?
This article shows the horrific reality behind the caste dictated marriage system. If a system can create this violent and horrific response without being questioned, it should not exist. I believe that endogamy perpetuates caste stratification and an end needs to be put to it. This situation shows the terrifying extremes that the Indian system has reached. The village leader ordered the villagers to take advantage of this woman and further threatened her when she wanted to report it to the police. This organized violence to maintain a system of caste discrimination should not be tolerated or perpetuated. The only way to make the country a safe environment for woman and stop India from being synonymous with rape is to end this practice.
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