The country was on Tuesday shocked with the news that a 12-year-old girl was raped by 22 men for seven months in her housing society. The accused were all the maintenance staff for the gated community and 17 of them have been arrested by the police in relation to the Chennai rape case of the Class 7 girl. 

The incident sparked outrage among people from all over and when the 17 accused were produced at the Mahila Court on Tuesday afternoon, a group of lawyers beat the brutes in the court premises itself. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media. The 17 accused have been booked under the sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). 

The Chennai rape victim was brutalised for seven months by the accused and sadly, they were all employees as the maintenance staff of the gated housing complex. Many of the rape accused were hired as security guards and were above 60 years of age. Sadly, instead of providing safety to the child, they turned predators instead.

The Chennai rape case has once again opened the debate about the sad state of affairs in India when it comes to women safety. Where can our children feel safe? It is certainly not their schools, gated communities, parks, malls, roads or even their homes. 

The rape in Chennai has forced us to ask these tough questions again and it is to be noted that neither the governments nor we as a society have been able to do our bit to make the country safer for its daughters.