Shall we lock our daughters inside our homes?

My mother just told me that 2 days back, an 8 year old girl was raped - WHERE and HOW ?? I was so shocked. Then she said that in our neighborhood (Where I grew up playing), this little girl was coming back home with her mother from a grocery store which was 400 mts away from her house. On the way back home , just few steps away from home the mother said \"I forgot to buy something else also, so you just go home and I will buy and come\". She would have never even thought that would be her biggest mistake for which her daughter will have to suffer. She left her on the street very very close to her house and went back to the store walking. The young girl started walking to her house when an old man - aged 70-75 who was picking up the garbage from the roadside called her. He is the same man who used to pick up the garbage for the whole community and her house too so she was quite familiar with the face. She went forward to talk to him when he said to that innocent and lovely girl that I will give you chocolates and toys 'daughter' if you come with me a few steps ahead. She happily went with him enjoying and imagining toys and chocolate. That innocent soul was absolutely unaware of anything else except chocolates , toys and playing around when he took her to an isolated place near her home.

Her mother was now done shopping grocery and on her way back home she took another way just by luck. This another route is also a shortcut to her house. On her way she heard someone shouting out of pain and crying out loud. The sound was coming from a small little but thick farm nearby. As she went closer to the place from where she heard someone crying she realized that it's her daughter crying. She lost her senses, threw all the grocery bags and ran into the farm just to see her own daughter being raped.. (it was so hard to type that cant even imagine the pain of the mother). She shouted out loud and gathered everyone around.People caught that old guy BUT the tiny kid was in blood and crying out loud in pain mentally and physically. People took him to the police and now he is in custody. The only thought that ran in my mind was \"Is that girl in less pain to see him behind the bars?\" For me, its a NO as that young innocent girl knows nothing about the rule book of this harsh rude world. For her , it doesn't even matter that he is punished or not. What matters for her is that she wished for a toy and walked holding hand of an elderly and then she was in pain .. that's it. She might not even know the meaning of word RAPE. But that incident would have freaked her soul out as she can never ever ever take this out from her head no matter what toys or chocolates world offers her now.

Forever her parents wont send her out alone, she wont talk to any one even if its an acquaintance - her life will be inside those walls now. Her own fear wont let her to even go , step out and just walk around or play in her own neighborhood. I am myself so scared with this now that next time whenever I will go home, I will have to take my brothers out with me for every single thing OR I am at high risk as the chief minister of our state has openly declared that \"We Cannot protect all the girls better parents get them married at the age of 14 and be in mental peace\". As if married women are not raped, whatever. I am damn worried, angry and irritated with this whole cycle. A girl when she is born is a free soul but slowly and steadily our society forces her to stay inside 4 walls of the house and when she stays inside she is trapped. Outside in other cities where we have little better circumstances men and women are on the streets protesting but the sufferers are in some other place still suffering and the future is also hazy.

My only question is that Shall we lock our daughters inside OR shall they be accompanied by brothers all the time everywhere?????? If you would have been at my place and you know that even 5 mins away from your house you are not safe .. what you would have done as I am terrified and hell scared after this :(