When rapists like Govindachamy break out of jail, should women lock themselves in?

Dubai: When Govindachamy, the one‑armed rapist, escaped from a jail in Kerala earlier this morning, I felt an instinctive fury – a wave of raw disgust that I couldn’t quite shake off.

And when the Kannur police finally caught him a few hours later, there was relief—but also a bitter aftertaste. Because here’s the ugly truth: when a rapist slips out, women everywhere lock themselves in.

I have a 14-year-old daughter. The very idea of her taking a late train or a public bus alone is enough to make me break into a sweat. Friends of mine in India enforce strict curfews for their children —home by 6 p.m., no going out alone, no sleep-overs. Many scoff at such “overprotective” parenting. But you know what? These aren’t overreactions. These are survival skills in a world where justice moves slower than predators.

And let me be very clear: this is not an India problem. It is a women’s safety issue. The jailbreak reminded me of another monster: the so-called “juvenile” in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case.

Remember him? At 17, he was said to be the most brutal of them all—he wielded an iron rod on a 23-year-old medical student who made the mistake of taking a bus home. The rape and murder all took place in a moving bus in New Delhi. For this, he got three years in a correctional home. Three. And on December 20, 2015, he walked free. Four of the six men who gang-raped and murdered her were hanged in 2020. One killed himself. And the juvenile? He was whisked off to a secret location, given a sewing machine, a Rs10,000 grant (Dh440 or $120), and a new identity.

Rehabilitation, they called it. Most women call it betrayal. Even inside the juvenile home, reports suggested he was showing no remorse. Intelligence agencies admitted he had been radicalised by another inmate. Still, because of an outdated law, he got a fresh start. And Nirbhaya got a pyre. This is the part that sears itself into every mother’s mind: the state bends over backwards to rehabilitate the monster.

But who rehabilitates the women? Who erases our fear?

Public fury after Nirbhaya’s murder finally forced a change in the law—now, 16-18 year-olds can be tried as adults in heinous crimes. Progress? Sure. But it came at the cost of a young woman’s life. It came after millions of women poured onto the streets screaming, “Enough!” And yet, it’s still not enough.

When a convicted rapist like Govindachamy escapes, it doesn’t just trigger a manhunt. It cracks open old wounds. It proves what every woman already knows: the police can’t always protect you, laws are paper shields, and justice is usually too little, too late. That’s why women everywhere self-police.

That’s why our daughters live in invisible cages, why we constantly check “reached home?”, why we limit them instead of demanding predators be grounded. This isn’t a Delhi problem, or a Kerala problem. This isn’t a “third world” problem.

Ask the women of London who were told to stay indoors after a cop kidnapped and murdered Sarah Everard. Ask women in America, Australia, Brazil. Different countries, same fear. Because this is not a national shame. This is a global emergency.

To lawmakers and leaders everywhere: when a rapist escapes, even for a few hours, it isn’t just a lapse in security. It is an indictment of your system. And to every mother like me—don’t ever let anyone dismiss your fear as paranoia. It’s lived experience. Until the world learns to cage its predators, stop telling women to cage themselves.