Characteristics Of A Potential Rapist

Watch out for them.

- Sudha Chandrasekaran

Almost every girl has been chided at some point of time in her life by her mother for the short length of her frock or for that revealing pattern of a dress. In all likelihood, she cribbed but also obliged because she had been told that revealing too much skin invited trouble. Not only this, she had also been constantly warned against strangers – “Stranger is danger!”

But when this same girls fall prey to appalling acts of rape, who is to be blamed? Are we to blame these girls for not treating the man they saw walk behind them with a sense of deep mistrust? Or for alighting from the bus without suspecting that there could be a rapist just waiting to pounce on them? Would this entire struggle become less daunting if we could possibly tell a rapist by looking at him, which indeed is difficult? Rape, as per statistics, is one of the most under-reported acts of monstrosity across all nations. The very cruelty of these acts leaves many trembling with fear.

Who is a potential rapist? Is he an anti-social element or is he a psychopath? Is he always leching on women in public? There is evidence that these rapists may be mixing well with their surroundings but, on the other hand they may be extreme individuals too. This unnerving detail puts several men known to you under the scanner. A majority of rapists have anti-social and narcissistic personality disorders. What we need to know is that child molesters and rapists are agitated minds turned mentally sick patients. These traits of theirs are formed mostly during their childhood and adolescent days. Several allied therapies – medicine, behavioural counselling, psychosocial support – need to co-ordinate their tasks to trap those minds before they go out of control."A rapist doesn't necessarily have to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but it is the mind that is prone to such heinous acts," Dr Sen adds.