Rape is a manifestation of the continued existence of structures of patriarchy, caste and class. We are agonized by the question of how to stop rape effectively, but we are also filled with sorrow by the realization that many of the people in the angry demonstrations in Delhi, Mumbai and all over the country, are fiercely demanding the death penalty for rapists or chemical castration, assuming this will have the effect of deterrence. There is no evidence whatsoever that the death penalty lowers the crime rate. It has on the contrary been argued that the prospect of a death sentence would hamper the already low rate of convictions even more. Besides, crime statistics bear out that in over 90% of rape cases in our country, the perpetrator is known to the victim. The violence is not “out there†in the unknown, it is present in our own midst, in our families and communities, where we socialize our children within the straightjacket of a deeply patriarchal and casteist culture