India, Jan. 29 -- Maharashtra today is staring at a mirror it no longer recognises-and perhaps no longer wants to. This is not merely a phase of political turbulence or a temporary spike in crime statistics. This is a systemic moral collapse, where governance has grown timid before criminals, public discourse has turned feral, and women-particularly women without political power but with public visibility-have become the softest, most convenient targets. The state that once set standards of political decorum is now sinking into a daily spectacle of vulgarity masquerading as activism and hate speech hiding under the convenient umbrella of free speech.

Let us begin with the hard truth we keep dodging. Crime against women and the girl child...