In December 2012, the barbaric rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in a moving bus in the heart of the Capital shook the very conscience of the nation. The collective public memory was yet to completely heal from the horrific crime when incidents of barbarous violence and violations against women continued.
After the Nirbhaya case, Unnao, Kathua and Hathras rape cases made it to not just the nation’s headlines but the world media, much to the shame and embarrassment of a country where all the diverse communities take immense pride in their belief and value system.
This month, the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor within the medical college premises not just opened old wounds but highlighted that nothing much has changed when it comes to women’s safety.
Over a decade after heated debates, safety apps, GPS tracking devices, pepper sprays and conversations over the security of women and stringent rape laws, nothing so far has been prohibitory or effective enough to prevent the heinous crime.
Almost 51 FIRs are registered every hour on crimes against women. The figure unfortunately is not reflective of the true picture of ground realities considering a staggering majority of cases never make it to the authorities.
The report Crime in India published by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2023 showed a total of 4,45,256 cases of crime against women registered across India in 2022.
The figures are up from 4,28,278 in 2021 and 3,71,503 in 2020 respectively.
If the statistics were to be translated into a language more easily understood, in 2011, a woman was raped every 20 minutes in India, as per the government data. Unfortunately, instead of the figures coming down, it increased to about a rape every 16 minutes by 2021.
Rape laws in India
The cursorial look at the history of rape laws in India will reveal that the laws were enacted and legal reforms introduced out of public outrage following heinous crimes. Under the Indian legal system, rape is a non-bailable offence and the punishment for it is imprisonment not less than ten years, which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. The punishment for gang rape is rigorous imprisonment anywhere between 20 years and life, along with a fine.
However, loopholes in the system have benefitted the perpetrators more than the law has discouraged them.
A deeper concern than just Law and Order
That is not it. The issues go deeper than law and order. Reportedly, the name of the female doctor who was gang-raped and murdered in the Indian hospital appeared on porn sites as men sought out footage of the assault. It’s a system where those even remotely tainted need to be boycotted.
While the nation boils over yet another rape crime, one of the recent analyses has brought to light the fact that as many as 151 sitting MPs and MLAs have cases related to crime against women registered against them. India’s ruling party, the BJP, accounts for one-third of such lawmakers. The report also says that over 150 sitting MPs and MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women in their election affidavits.
Deep-rooted societal attitudes and patriarchy have ensured that in many nooks and corners of the country, there is a culture where the victims are silenced and a vast number of cases go unreported. In 2017, while confirming the death penalty for four men accused of the gruesome gangrape of Nirbhaya, the Supreme Court had warned the government that stringent laws and punishments against rape may not be enough to fight the rising crimes against women.
Earlier this year, the brutal gangrape of a Spanish tourist, travelling with her husband, in the Indian state of Jharkhand sparked outrage yet again and brought the focus back to the system. Nearly 45,000 rape cases were investigated in 2022, as per the data furnished by NCRB. What’s discouraging to the victims and perhaps, encouraging to the perpetrators is that there were convictions in just over 5000 cases.
Women say they’ve had more than enough
The incident clouded the Independence Day celebrations with several women coming together to display how never feeling safe, always having to be escorted, or restricted to safe places, daylight hours never amounted to freedom. “There is nothing to celebrate,” read one of the viral Instagram posts against an all-black background. Thousands joined in echoing the sentiment of how they have never truly been free, often having to sacrifice freedom for safety and swap opportunities to remain safe.
“It’s the belief that justice will definitely follow and justice will immediately follow that may deter the predators from committing such a crime, if at all. It’s time to burn the culprits rather than candles,” read another of the social media posts by yet another woman infuriated at having been failed by the system and society ineffective at ensuring her safety.
Follow us
