Shouldnt rapists' family also be held responsible for their wrongs?

NO, Vandana. I have to disagree with you here. I see too many families that raise their children with all the love, care and opportunities in the world. They have 3 or 4 children and one will get involved in crimes that none of the people close to them could have ever predicted. We can blame society, the family, the friends but ultimately the person that committed the crime is responsible for his/her own actions. Likewise, I have seen kids that are raised in horrible conditions that turn out to be the nicest assets to our society. My Son in law is one of them. Why would you even think of being mean to the family of such a person?? Some families may not care but many are already ashamed by the actions of their loved ones and deeply hurt...why add to that??? Seems like a mean stance to me.

Really? I can't believe how backward thinking this post is. You imply that family members know that their relative is a rapist. I can't write anymore, because I will insult your mentality

I would have to disagree. I have family members that have been involved in some activity I would NEVER have associated myself with (although nothing as horrid as rape). But because they are family I am automatically associated. There are plenty of parents/families that show remorse for their family members actions. I can't say all should be blamed.

Of course they can be held liable if they are part of the scheme in the rape crime and try to cover up for his escape after the fact. Their failure to report an on going rape to the authority while witness such a criminal act took place also can render them as accomplices of the rapist. On the other hand, if they have no knowledge at all of this family member rape history at all and are not in anyway participate in his rape plan, then they can not be held responsible for the rape he committed, if the rapist is of an adult age, in the eye of the law, he is legally responsible for his own action, not someone else. He should be man enough to face any consequences coming his way without getting his family member /parent involved.

I had an uncle who was always trying to kiss my cousin (then 10 years old). My cousin and I always hated family reunions for that reason. He never bothered me, but he was always after her. We told on him to our parents when we knew he would be coming and our parents didn't ever believe us or want to address the problem. So we decided to handle it ourselves. I told my cousin to put on bright red lipstick and when he cornered her for a kiss I said to get red lipstick all over his white shirt. She did it too. He got all blustery and mad, and a tad bit embarrassed too. But who got punished? We did for making a scene. He could have raped her on any occasion he wished to. I'm glad we thought that up. I'm slew he caught hell from my aunt when they got home.

is this how you wish to be treated if it was some one in your family that has done this bad thing

Do you really think they are NOT already being held acountable for this? Others know it was their son/brother that did this - do you really believe that other people will treat them the same after this? Employers, neighbors, prospective spouses, etc. will all be judging them. Do you not realize that they will wallow in guilt and self doubt wondering IF they had done something different things would have turned out differently.

Your argument is flawed here "Family always knows the nature of its family member..." This is not true all the best, urban

There was a serial killer in, I think Kansas or Nebraska, that everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, was stunned when they found out who he was. I disagree, family doesn't always know. Now, I do agree that they often do. You know, "don't leave little (fill in the blank) alone with Uncle So-and-so" yeah, they do often know.

Oh horrid Vandy a five year old girl thats so sick. I am a bit confused by making social outcasts of the rapists family as I can see it with his mother and father has they surely did not do right in raising him but to do this to children of that family ? They did not do the crime so why hurt innocent children? Perhaps it m ght be wise though to take such children away from parents who raised a rapist and put them with parents who are great p]arents.

I would say that you do have a point with parents nurturing their children so that they don't turn into rapists and murderers but there are psychological problems that can set in that families have no control over. People's brains can begin to work in bad ways due to diseases or different mental problems beginning to take over. You also never really know when a person could snap and do something horrendous. I don't think it's fair to punish the family because they don't have complete control over the situation. They could try as hard as possible to raise their children properly but mental problems that the child was born with could ultimately cause the person to do things horrendous in the future. It's kind of the same way with people that live perfectly normal lives and then one day just decide to kill some people. It is outside of the families control and most family members don't even see these horrible crimes coming.

These must be very difficult times for India indeed! I actually think this is one of your better long-term solutions. Such a system works very well in Japan which has had an extremely low crime rate for a very, very long time. Many believe this is so due wholely or partially to such an effective system. No one there wants to lose face, but I'm not sure if you have a similar situation in India. Down here, regarding your comment, those on the receiving end of large sum transactions are always more concerned about how people made the money or where it came from than just the money itself. In this country, there's never really been the mentality of "no-one else's business", but quite the opposite... everyone else's business is everyone else's business! And at one point in our short history, such a system almost seemed to self-regulate.

Hi Vandana I partially agree to this.Family members should also be help responsible but that is only when they know that someone in their family is doing something wrong and they just support it blindly because of their attachment for that bad person.Its not always the case that family members know the nature of someone in their family.People fake it most of the times.So many husbands and wives present themselves as faithful and dedicated while actually they are infidel and fool their partner.Its very difficult to make out if the person is faking ,especially when the concerned person is someone you love and trust blindly.There are so many rapists which don't have any history of committing crime,the guys with such a mentality will act normal in their social circles.They would not give any signs to their friends or family that they have any intentions to rape some girl.Yes its duty of parents to give right moral values to their children, but they can only make honest efforts,if someone is not willing to follow what is right only the concerned person is to be held responsible.It cannot be included in constitution as there is no way to prove that parents did not make enough efforts to teach their children what is right and what is wrong.Best wishes.

it is not only the family that shapes the person's character. several factors influence a person't personality- family, community, peers, school. religion, government, mass media, etc. as a person grows, almost always the influence of the family lessens. i wouldn't blame the family for this horrific incident UNLESS they condoned what the rapist was doing. we do not choose our relatives, they are given to us. ostracizing the family is wrong. while it is true that it is the parent's duty to discipline their children, not all children obey their parents. when they become adults they have a choice - whether to obey or to break the laws.

i think that is really barbaric and outdated to outcast the family for the crimes of their relatives. that's just plain stupid. it's not anybody else's responsibility for that crime but the one who committed it. not the family.

I don't agree that a family should be held responsible for an act their child does. I mean sometimes maybe if they are the ones that treated them so horribly that it messed them up, but then they should be held responsible for what they did to the person to make them that way not what they turned around and did to someone else. No matter how you are treated it doesn't mean you don't have your own judgment plenty of people are treated horribly and don't turn around and do the same thing to others. Also when it's your kid you may know that there is something wrong but don't know what all they are capable of. If it's your kid you sometimes don't like to think they are capable of something so horrible, because even though they do bad things or may do bad things that's your kid or family and you love them, you can't just turn your back on them. Often cases though you don't know what someone is capable of because they don't share that with you. They may seem like normal people because they hide things from you. That's not something everyone knows. Often times there may be something mentally wrong with someone and that's not the parents or families fault. As a parent you do the best to raise your child, but what they do when they are older isn't really up to you. I often feel empathy for the family of the criminal. I mean you know they did wrong and you know they have to pay but it still hurts you. Despite what someone does you still love them. It's just not that easy to say well they are a rapist and it's the families fault, because often times it's not. Many parents have no clue that their child was capable of such a horrible act. A lot of the time it has nothing to do with the way a child was brought up by the family but the way they were treated by society. If you're going to hold it up to those standards every person that ever speaks the least bit of negativity to a child should be held accountable for whatever bad thing that child does in the future.

Hi vandana The horrendous stuff? - Courtsey media publishing the stuff on the Dec 16th rape case. There are many similarities with those stuffed actions! The family knowing part is what is wrong here. On most cases of todays familym no one has the time. Even when I was a kid, my parents never knew what I did at college, how many classes I attended and what I did the entire day. But yes, their teaching and influence did make me keep up with the right people, with the right thoughts and I never drifted. Today, when parents are so very busy that they even dont know what their kid is trying to do over internet, it would be a false assumption - family knows the nature of its family member - at least most of the time. These incidents of rape are committed by perverts and people who have been seeing and learning from Indian movies - you know they almost always have shown that women or the girl is an object whom you can get just by stalking for long. And there are plenty of such movies. But this 5-year old case... that is one just fit for concentration camps... which India will never have.

for me i think the family don't have the responsible when one of their family is a rapist,sometimes family wouldn't know that one of their family member is a rapist.sometimes those silent type of person are those who can do this kind of crime.

I would say it is a second wrong to blame the family unless by investigation it can be proven that a wrong was committed and always it would be another separate issue. I mean this thinking applies as we apply law in that you can not usually try the same case twice on the same person. It does not therefore seem reasonable to try many people for one crime unless they actually took part in it. We would have to look at other injustices that took place separately.

Hi ! I disagree ! Family should be held responsible for relatives wrong doing. He is already having his own faculties meaning he is in control of his senses , we can never dictate him . He is having his own mind setting and conditioning. He is having his own perception in life. We can advise and guide but we can never tamed a wild lion. If we include parents , then this would be so unfair to them , no parents who would like their son to be a rapist ! Give to Cesar what is due for Cesar !