“I have no other option but to say YES to the proposal,” said a 24-year-old Shilpi (name changed), a rape victim, in a meek voice. Ever wondered what the proposal is? Well, it may come as no surprise to us when Shilpi agreed to marry the man who allegedly kidnapped and raped her. This has become a sort of practice – first, you raped the girl and to save oneself, you offer to marry her.

Shilpi is not the lone submissive girl out there. Earlier, we have seen a number of rape victims marrying the accused. As in the case of a 23-year-old Jaipur-based fashion designing student, who was allegedly raped by a major posted in Jammu and Kashmir.  He finally married her.

But the real shocker was when a few years back, the Orissa High Court asked a rape accused to either marry the victim or get imprisoned. Even a Delhi court asked a 22-year-old nurse whether she would accept the marriage proposal from the man who allegedly raped her in the hospital where they worked together. The incident happened in September 2003.

And let’s not forget the most controversial comment from our former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan , who had said, "Due regard must be given to their (the rape victims') personal autonomy since in some cases, the victim may choose to marry the perpetrator or choose to give birth to a child conceived through forced intercourse." When even our justice body is left with a few options then what do you expect the rape victim and her family to do?

At one point, this seems to be the best decision for the girl to save herself and her family from the social stigma. We live in such a society where people are more interested in adding insult to the injury instead of healing the wound. They would rather question the character of the girl instead of holding the rapist guilty.

But if we ponder a deeper thought into it, it brings out the question – is the girl doing any justice to herself by marrying the man who has brought her social rebuke and disgrace? Isn’t she portraying herself as a stooge? Even in this case, the accused will walk away with lesser punishment and earning all the accolades for marrying the victim.

It would be difficult for anybody to even envisage the trauma and ordeal, a rape victim has to go through. This also puts her future prospect of leading a happy married life at stake. But, will she be able to live a normal happy married life if she marries the rapist or will this marriage work out at all? By doing so, we are only saving the accused and encouraging them to commit such heinous crime again and again. It is just a tactic used by them to escape the punishment. This act has shown a terrible crime like rape as a petty crime where the accused apologizes and he’s freed. So, what do you say – should victims continue to be a stooge at their hands or should we fight to give them the most severe punishment?

Team MSN She