The Mind Of The Child Rapist

They live behind a mask of normalcy, concealing their true selves as best they can. But who are they? As a growing number of brutal sexual assaults on children put the nation on edge, new research sheds some light on the minds and motives of child rapists

- Damayanti Datta

Maybe, just maybe, they died before pain or perception. Like soldiers in the heat of war—a leg blown off, shrapnel in the eye, intestines hanging out—but numb to pain. That silent prayer wafts heavenwards, as the nation grieves. Grisly remains of children are emerging every day from their dark resting places: Kathua, Surat, Etah, Balasore, Indore, Chatra. Smashed skulls, chewed lips, lacerated genitals, sticks and bottles forced inside the belly. About 20,000 children a year, 50 a day, two every hour—age seven months to 17 years—mangled, raped and murdered in a frenzy of blood, agony and that ultimate breach of trust: adult lust for innocence.

This is a story you may not want to read, but you must. Five months into 2018, the litany of brutal acts of rape, torture and murder carried out against children across the country seems unending. It is hard to envisage how adult men can rape infants and children, but the recent acts of extreme violence and exceptional brutality—too horrific to comprehend—have transfixed us. The conversation is getting louder—on the streets, in homes, at offices. The Supreme Court is taking suo motu cognisance of the gruesome cases. A darkening public mood pushed the central government to come out with an ordinance: death penalty for rape of girls aged 12 or less. But beyond the blame games and the excuses, the politics and the protests, there is a struggle to probe the deeper source of the problem: the mind of the child rapist.

EVEN AFTER KATHUA