Eve-teasing murderers convicted: A good day for justice

In a step forward towards justice for cases of women's harassment, all the four accused in the Keenan-Reuben case in Mumbai were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment until death this morning. The horrific incident happened in October 2011, when Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes were out drinking with a few friends (a few of them being women), little did they know that the evening was going to turn out to be the scariest manifestation of our society's patriarchal mind set.

One of the accused Jeetendra Rana made some derogatory comments towards the female companions of the boys. Rather than being mute spectators, Keenan and Reuben decided to voice their protest. Jeetendra then came back with the other three accused- Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulhaj and Dipak trival, and Keenan and Reuben were then beaten and stabbed multiple times outside the bar.

A file photo of Keenan and Reuben( Picture Credit: Ndtv)

Though it has taken more than years for the case to come to a conclusion, nevertheless justice has been delivered. It is a great example that has been put forward by the judiciary, as it gives people a hope that standing up for the right thing should never come with grave consequences, in fact it is something that needs to be appreciated and honored. Unfortunately, there are still very few real life s/heroes who stand up for what they believe in. And why should they? The system doesn't appreciate them, life is already difficult where a common person has to struggle day in and out, pulling strings here and there to make ends meet. Nobody has time to stand up for someone else in all this hullabaloo. But when such cases are brought to justice, it is a positive message, and perhaps the next time something like this happens (we really hope it doesn't), a few people would be able to gather the gall to act on against what they think is wrong.

Feature Image Credit: s.hwstatic.com