The upcoming episode of the long-running NBC series "Law & Order: SVU" will show the injustice done to a rape victim when her own neighbors refused to help her.
In "Forty-One Witnesses," Hollywood Hills reports that Lt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and her team will be handling a sensitive case of a woman who has been raped. The culprit followed her home and did the deed right in front of her building. What the SVU finds unbearable is that many people saw the crime, but did not bother to call for help.
As the woman deals with the trauma of what happened to her, Benson must interrogate all the witnesses to get to the rapist. She will make sure that all those who let a monster violate a hapless person realize their mistake and serve the victim with the justice she deserves. The lieutenant will also track down the man who preyed on the victim and make sure he spends the rest of his life behind bars.
Last episode, a freshman complained that she was raped by a senior student. The boy, apparently, had asked her out for the solstice dance and she agreed. In the campus, they had what they call "the dark room," which according to students, was where all the heavy make out sessions took place. When the boy asked the girl to go to the room with him, she said yes. Afterward, though, she claimed she changed her mind and asked him to stop, but he did not listen to her.
It took the girl four days to tell her parents about what happened. If not for their maid who found her stained dress, she would not admit she was raped. The senior in question was from a well-off family, a straight-A student, and was going to study in Stanford. He denied the allegations, stating that the girl liked what they did and she was just pissed that he did not contact her after the dance.
In a complicated legal battle in court, it became known that the boy targeted the freshman out of peer pressure. Senior students had an ongoing bet on how many virgins they could have before graduation. The defendant still had no one on his list, so they forced him to ask the girl out. They did not have sex, but he admitted he touched her, got too excited, and came early. The jury found him guilty of sexual misconduct, but not on attempted rape.
"Law & Order: SVU" season 17 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.
