Case of the RED LIGHT BANDIT, a man who raped in the Last Century

Caryl Chessman is a unique name, in the sense he must be one of a few of a tribe who turned writers while in prison. Chess man remained on death row for 12 years before he was executed by the gas chamber in 1960. During this period he also authored 4 books and inspired a film by Hollywood. One is reminded about this case now, as America has an endemic crime record and the killings at Connecticut are nothing new. Chessman was an average American but he had a streak of violence in him. His modus operandi was simple. He traveled on the roads in California with a red light on top of his car. People believed him to be a cop and pulled up when he signaled them to stop. Thus he got the name “Red Light bandit”.

After the cars pulled up Chessman would rob the passengers and in case the driver was a girl he would drag her out of the car for sex, rape and oral sex. Two cases that were proved in court were the case of 17 year old Mary Alice Meza who under threat performed oral sex on Chessman and 22 year old Regina Johnson who was dragged 22 feet from the car to a clump of trees and raped.

In 1948 Chessman was arrested and put on trial. He was sentenced to death for a total of 17 offences of rape and robbery. A peculiar aspect of this case was the death sentence awarded. At that time kidnapping was an offence that merited the death penalty. The fact the girl Regina Johnson was dragged 22 feet from the car made the application of kidnapping charge stick to Chessman and he was awarded the death sentence in 1948.

Chessman claimed he was innocent but he could not give much proof on this account. He earned a reprieve from the gallows on a number of occasions as eminent persons argued to save his life, but his luck finally ran out and on 2 May 1960 was executed

Is Raj Thackeray Correct: All Crimes of Rape and Murder are done by Biharis?

Raj Thackeray is a maverick politician who is prone to making sensational and provocative statements. For this many FIR’s have been filed against him. Not for a moment will I support Raj Thackeray, but having said that it is important we analyse the crimes of rape and women in India. There is no doubt that the socio- economic situation in Bihar is bad. The caste divide is extreme, so much so that people will be surprised to know that in Patna even the Police billets are segregated on caste lines.

The second point that must be emphasised is that Bihar is a feudal state where the women have been subjugated and made second class citizens. Add to this the caste equation and you have a deadly concoction of the worst case of socio economic scenario one can think off. Bihar is almost a lawless state, despite all efforts of Nits Kumar the state remains steeped in obscurantism and backwardness. Industrial production is nonexistent and jobs are difficult to come by. With the loss of the mineral rich areas to Jharkhand, Bihar has almost empty coffers.

Thus the pressure to migrate to other states is extreme and many Biharis migrate to Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay for a livelihood. When this crowd leaves Bihar they mostly leave their families behind and work single in the metropolis. Conditioned by a feudal background these Bihar men are easily susceptible to crime. There is no doubt that a large number of crimes of rape and other sex related matters can be traced to people from Bihar. Unable to visualize a freedom of girls in dress and demeanor, that they have not seen in Bihar these Bihari workers are easily swayed and base thoughts come to them resulting in crimes of rape.

Unfortunately this also applies to Eastern Utter Pradesh which is also the sister state of Bihar in terms of obscurantism and backwardness. Perhaps the only solution is to not only enact stringent laws, but also improve the socio- economic scenario in Bihar and UP. Incidentally it is not only Raj who has articulated these thoughts but the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit has also earlier gone on record with the same observations. The fact is the Bihar and UP constitutes 40% of India’s population and curbing this menace of rape and crime by men of this state is no easy task