A person who kills a brown-skinned man is no less a murderer than someone who kills a white-skinned man. The same dictum applies for rape.

After an American girl was gang-raped in Mumbai, there seems to be a certain section of our ever-so-patriotic society that feels that the white woman's violation is being unjustly sensationalised. They think that if her skin had been a little more tanned and if her screams had an Indian twang to it, the case wouldn't receive the kind of attention it got.

It reaffirms the hopelessness of humanity when a girl gets violated and instead of feeling ashamed and angry and questioning exactly how much divinity we all have within us, we are more interested in casting aspersions on the 'character' of the victim, investigating if 'she had it coming', and protesting that the violated brown woman didn't get as much media space as the violated white woman.

Perhaps, the act of rape itself has no more shock value left in it. It shouldn't come as a surprise in a nation where a celebrity husband getting zipped down by his celebrity wife on a fashion show ramp earns more ire than men who rape and assault women.

It is undeniably true that the profusion of molesters and rapists in the country would not be possible without the patriarchal trinity of the police, the courts and various state governments. And, undoubtedly, the biggest token of gratitude should go to the word 'allegedly' and its variations that the media and the officials efficiently inculcate into their vernacular. Thanks to this word a giant land mammal with big ears, tusks, a trunk and pillar-like legs will remain an 'alleged' elephant until enough evidence is provided before a court of law. How can some men get their minds around the complex working of a car engine, the fastidious rules of various sports and still not realise there is no excuse for rape?

There's one thing that needs to be hammered into their rock-like skulls: It doesn't matter if a girl is drunk or over-flirtatious. If she doesn't want you to be with her, then you have no right to even lay a finger on her. End of discussion. And if you feel otherwise, then you are suffering from a serious case of cerebral malfunction. Allegedly, of course.