The Kothai rape and murder case in Shimla district in Himachal Pradesh, is getting messier by the day. If the incident itself was not appalling, the way the government and the police have acted, has allowed the lynch mob in real life and on social media to take things in their hands.

I am feeling ashamed as a Himachali for the first time in life. Not just because of the rapists out there but how the Himachalis have dealt with the issue. I feel Gudiya wasn’t just raped that one evening, day or night. She is being raped by all and sundry today, every day and every moment.

Obnoxious and really cheap. #JusticeforGudiya seems to have become a business now and all the exercises for justice seem to be farce. A page called “Pahadi Beat” on Facebook is out there “farming” engagement with stupid questions, playing on the sentiments of people. (दोस्तों इनका क्या करना चाहिए? फांसी, उम्र कैद, जला दो… With picture of Gudiya, urging… दोस्तों मुजको (sic) इंसाफ चाहिए) How low can one stoop? This is just insensitive and it has to stop.

First came in the farce called candle light marches with half of the public laughing and posing happily for pictures; then came in the politicians showing their ugly happy faces, then the gullible youth who torched police stations and boasting of it happily, then the Facebook frame makers, and now the “Like” farmers.

The monsoons washing away on-spot evidence and another murder of one of the accused in police custody, make chances of getting justice bleak.

What also is appalling that the pictures of Gudiya are being floated openly on social media. Some opportunists are creating apps on Facebook to allow people to frame their profile pics with pic of Gudiya in one corner and the demand for justice for Gudiya as frame-caption. Is this kind of a joke?

The frame in many cases goes against the mood of the profile picture, which of some people is celebratory. If social media is powerful, the problem with it is that it can be irresponsible at the same time.

The unwritten rule — in mainstream media — of not showing the picture of a rape victim has been thrown to the wind here. People are openly sharing pictures of suspects arrested and at the same time torching down police stations stating that the arrests are a mere eyewash and the real culprits are still out. Irony? If the real culprits are still out and if any of the arrested men is/are innocent and are just being framed for a cover-up, the lynch mob is doing a bigger disservice and injustice to the arrested by sharing their pics.

At the same time, there is another set of photographs flying on the internet, which the public believes are of the real culprits. The CM himself was party to it, and had posted it irresponsibly on his social media account. The set of pics was deleted later by him though. What if any one of them is innocent and really was picked up by the police as a cover-up, the social media mob is doing disservice to him.

What’s happening? The problem is that English print media as prudish as always ignored the news in the initial days; and the big broadcasters and telecasters do not get enough advertisers who would have Himachal as their target. So why even bother? They have allowed the semi-internet-educated to take media’s role upon themselves and take it to social media.

The mainstream media, particularly the big channels has done great disservice to the journalistic profession, the media industry, the public and injustice to Gudiya overall.

Himachal is burning and parts of it have come to a standstill but we hear nothing of it in Delhi. Why? Do we also need separatists voices demanding a separate country for the hill folks to get noticed in Delhi? Four parliament-seats at the Centre do not get counted anywhere?