Justice demands harsher punishment for this child rapist
The sentencing of Aijaz Sheikh, the most infamous child rapist in Kashmir has provoked massive outrage and disbelief. Sheikh has been sentenced to just 14 years of imprisonment for the appalling crimes inflicted by this man over the last three and a half decades on innocent children, using the trusted roles of a teacher, an imam, and a faith healer. In all honesty, this man should receive much more punishment from the justice system for deeds of such magnitude, an estimated 5,000 victims subjected to sexual violence against minors, forced enactment of these crimes by minors, and even filming these egregious acts.
Sheikh manipulated his position to gain access to innumerable innocent victims through three decades of brutality perpetrated against them. The children who looked upon him for healing and guidance were done the worst forms of evil by him. He not only committed these heinous acts but also compelled children to abuse one another while he watched and sometimes even filmed the abuse. Such trauma is a scar that remains on a person for life. And what he has collected for his payout in terms of punishment does little to cement the wounds he has created. Therefore, one must ask is14 years of imprisonment for being a monster considered even remotely close to justice?
The legal system defines the edicts of justice. It protects the helpless and has a suffocated future criminal. However, this ruling does give a morbid suggestion even the worst offenders those with systematic destruction of thousands of lives, may one day walk free. In many countries, serial child rapists either face life imprisonment without parole or, in some cases, even capital punishment. India’s own Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act has a provision for life imprisonment or even the death penalty in extreme cases. If Sheikh’s crimes do not fall into the category of extreme, then what are extreme cases?
Beyond the legal front, the case stands as a grim reminder of how society ordinarily functions in protecting its most vulnerable. For over three decades, this man operated quite freely, protected by the trust and respect that came with his so-called noble professions. How many suspicions were ignored? How many children cried out for help and were silenced? This is not a failure in the courts. It is a total failure of the system that allowed him to continue unchecked for so long.
Justice is supposed to be more than a prison term, for it has to bring closure to victims and security to society. A punishment of 14 years is far from it. The survivors will spend their entire lives running from the torture of his abuses but that, according to this verdict, could be a free man in a little over a decade. The agony these crimes have inflicted will not expire after the term of 14 years, so is this the way that punishment should be? Is this how little a child’s life is worth?
This case ought to open the minds of the courts of justice on the relevance of the offence. A really determined prosecution must ensure that Sheikh never walks the streets again, with an appeal for tougher sentences. Society as well should demand stricter laws and create stronger walls preventing predators from hiding in trusted positions. Schools, religious institutions, and families should be eyes wide open and report abuse cases more readily. Child safety should never be claimed as a given. Covering it shouldn’t be given decades.
What Aijaz Sheikh has done is beyond the pale of forgiveness, beyond redemption, and certainly beyond a mere 14-year sentence. He has built a life of inflicting trauma on innocent young children and stripping them of their sense of trust, dignity, and safety. The fight for justice does not end with this verdict. If we truly hold value in the lives of children, life in prison without parole must be the least penalty for such a monstrous predator. Anything less is a betrayal of, literally, every child harmed.
Let this be the moment where society says unequivocally to the world, “Child predators will not find the mercy of this society again, nor will they ever be let out.”
The writer, an MA in English from the Central University of Kashmir, is an educator at Birla Open Minds International School Pampore
Nowsheena Mushtaq
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