Woman Safety in India

ARE WOMEN SECURE IN INDIA???

On December 16, 2012, a 23-year old medical student was cruelly assaulted and gang-raped in a private bus late in the evening. The bus was moving around the crowded streets of Delhi. The girl was brutally raped and thrown out of the bus naked on the main road, let to die. She passed away a few days later in Singapore due to the injuries caused by brutish attacks.

On January 10, 2018, an 8-year old girl was kidnapped from a village near Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir. She was drugged, brutally raped by many men, and murdered inside a temple. An 86-year old lady was waiting outside of her house for the milkman when a 30-year-old male abducted her and mercilessly raped her. In November 2019, Telangana, a 29-year old veterinary doctor was abducted, gang-raped, killed and her corpse was later dumped on the roadside.

These are some of the numerous cases that came under light. India is identified as a country with the highest per capita rates of rape. Innumerable cases go unreported due to several reasons. But in recent times the courage to report such cases has increased after several previous cases reported have received widespread media attention and provoked the public protest.

Public’s response to gang rapes and murders are protests, public demonstrations, online petitions, candle marches demanding for the accused to be hanged etc. But this cannot compromise the life lost and such demonstrations cannot bring her back to life. Victim being blamed and slut-shamed are the most common reasons to dismiss rape cases. But what was wrong with the 86 year old woman or the 8-year-old innocent girl? Were they showing skin and asking to get raped or engaged in activities that would result in rape and murder?

This society always blames the victim and fails to notice the sins committed by the accused. In the recent case of Telangana, the Home Minister of the state said that the victim should have called the police. In the Nirbhaya case, the victim was criticized for being out at night time and to be dressed in western attire. Thus in most of the cases, the victim is slut-shammed and held responsible for the crime committed to her. India has always been a male dominant society and it is very common to impose restriction and control women.

Women are restricted to travel alone at night, they should stay away from men, they should wear fully covered types of clothes, and they should not drink and indulge in recreational activities. If they disobey then they are considered to have committed a sin. Instead of taking prime steps ensuring their safety, it was even easier to deny their independence. In this way, the victim is easily accused of breaking her rules and walking out of the safety net whenever a rape violence occurs.

There have been many amendments in the Law, after 2012, to ensure the accused with death penalties in case of brutal rape and murder, repeat offenders, and repeat gang rapes. But the introduction of death penalties does not assure that it will be granted. Death penalties are granted only in extremely brutal cases as it violates the Constitutional rights of equality and right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under articles 14 and 21.

Death penalties also tend to violate Section 235(2) of the CrPC, which guarantees a convict a right to be heard while deciding the question of a sentence; and Section 354(3) of CrPC, under which, the court is bound to provide special reasons for imposing a death sentence. In Nirbhaya’s case, the death penalty of the accused was granted in September 2013 but they were hanged in February 2020, after 8 years of the death of the victim.

In spite of many amendments and implementing strict punishments, innumerable rape cases still occur. Severe and harsh penalties has encouraged the rapists to be more cautious in destroying evidence such as burning the body of the victim so no DNA could be found.

Amending the Law alone would not be enough to put an end to this. We also need to change the mindset of the public and society. We are stereotyped from childhood that men are supposed to earn money and women are supposed to take care of households. We are also told that crying is only meant for women. Women are portrayed as a weaker community.

Many toys, cartoons, and games of children have always sexually objectified women. Violent video games have indulged violent nature in boys. The entertainment industry uses abusive slangs for describing women such as “phuljhadi”, “bomb”, “pataka”, etc. and also encourages eve-teasing, stalking. Pornography represents women as saleable products. Women are treated as mere bodies that can be abused and used to fulfill one’s lust.

Even in schools, children are taught to not talk to the opposite sex. Boys and girls are made to sit apart. Many men don’t know how to behave with a female due to the lack of interaction between the sexes. Suppressed sexuality has greater chances of giving rise to violent behavior. The concept of ‘getting consent’ is unclear to them.

Law assures a speedy investigation and fast track of trials in rape cases. Besides that we need better policing, making public spaces safer for women, securing isolated areas with constant surveillance, and deployment of police at all strategic points. Strict and harsh punishments will not prevent rapes from occuring. The fear of being caught and not being spared at any cost will bring the change.

“Abuse is the weakest expression of strength. It is a weakness to destroy what you ought to protect, build and make better.”

― Kingsley Opuwari Manuel