Don't celebrate, the Delhi rape verdict highlights our failures

The nation is celebrating the guilty verdict handed out to all the accused in the infamous Delhi gangrape case . Politicians across party ranks laud the decision of the court; social media is afire with congratulatory and celebratory messages.

The union home minister makes a statement. He said that a death sentence was assured, given that the law had been strengthened. “We have strengthened the law. Death penalty is assured in this case," he said.

The last time the country celebrated anything with so much enthusiasm, I imagine, is when Mary Kom won a medal at the London 2012 Olympic games .

Dhoni’s wins didn’t resonate as much. Raghuram Rajan’s appointment didn’t. A booming stock-market doesn’t.

So what makes this conviction a trigger for such euphoria?

Simply put, because it’s so rare. A conviction like this is a beacon of hope. It tells us, much like Mary Kom’s win told us, that what we once considered impossible is possible.

That’s a tragedy. Conviction of rapists shouldn’t be rare – they should be routine. Every time a woman is raped, the culprits should be caught, brought to book, and convicted. That’s that.

But, over a period of time, we began to feel that not only does a victim get raped, she (and her loved ones) do not even have the questionable solace and consolation of seeing justice delivered. Rapists, helped by the failure of our policing and investigating resources, coupled with the slowness of the courts, rarely see the punishment they deserve. Over a period of time, we begin to believe that we are stupid to even hope that the rapists are punished.

On the flip side, the very same reasons cause rapists and would be rapists to worry less about punishment and consequences and the price they might have to pay for a heinous act. If there is little chance of ever getting caught, why worry?

It’s when convictions in rape cases are common that it would be time to celebrate. For now, be grateful that the family of the victim will take strength from something as valueless as a conviction. They’d rather that their daughter had never been raped. They’d rather she was there with them, safe and sound.