Is India a hostile place for women?
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The protests and agitations following the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata have not subsided. Amidst the glamour and hero-worship of the film industry, the hidden stories of sexual exploitation and abuse are gradually coming to light. While the media and public are more interested in the affairs of the film industry, many other crimes are not being adequately reported. According to records released by the Home Department the other day, there have been 118,581 cases of crimes against women in Kerala since 2017. In the first six months of this year alone, 9,501 cases have been registered, including 1,338 rapes and 2,330 assaults. In addition, there are cases where complaints were not filed due to threats, shame, and fear; cases where the police did not register complaints; and cases settled in party courts. In the midst of busy operations like stirring up trouble messing up festivals like Thrissur pooram, smuggling, and political brokering, the state police, who are responsible for protecting the lives and property of people and maintaining law and order, are unable to pay sufficient attention to women's safety.
The central government, National Women's Commission, and Sangh Parivar cyber cells make it a point to intervene in, make statements about, or campaign on women's safety issues in states like West Bengal and Kerala, which are ruled by non-BJP governments. However, they seem uninterested in pursuing the Manipur rape case even after a year and a half. Crimes against women in BJP's own strongholds like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and UP are not prime-time news for national channels. It seems that a rotten mentality has spread, suggesting that these are not serious crimes but rather the rights of 'clever' men. This is perhaps why, when a woman was raped at a busy junction in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, people stood by and recorded it on their phones and posted it via internet instead of intervening.
The ordeal faced by a young woman a week ago in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, is a clear example of how corrupt and misogynistic the law enforcement system has become. While she was returning home with her fiancé after closing her shop late at night, the woman's vehicle was followed by some street thugs. Naturally, anyone in such a situation would hope for rescue upon seeing a police team. The woman somehow reached the police station and requested that they find the culprits and provide her with security. What followed was so horrific that it made street thugs seem decent. The fiancé, a military officer, was illegally detained by the police. The young woman, who also happened to be a law graduate and pointed out the illegality of this action by quoting legal texts, was dragged, tied up, and stripped. Male police officers took turns subjecting her to nudity, beating her, and threatening her with rape.
It has always been believed that the presence of women police officers would provide comfort and security to women. However, in this case, three women police officers were present, exciting the male officers committing the crime, hurling abuse, and threatening rape. For her 'defiance' in questioning the police's actions, the young woman was arrested and kept in custody for three days. Her father, a former military officer, who was distraught after not seeing his daughter by daybreak, was informed of her arrest very late. The Odisha High Court intervened strongly in the matter, and the woman was granted bail after three days. The army authorities have written to the Chief Justice expressing concern over the illegal detention of the military officer for 14 hours. The government has ordered a judicial inquiry.
Sangh Parivar cyber groups are justifying the police excesses by blaming the woman's late-night travel and 'smartness'. If a young woman with legal knowledge, a military family background, and social status had to face such an ordeal, one can only imagine how distant justice would be for ordinary women. The reason why crimes against women, which stood at 228,650 in 2011, increased by a staggering 87% to reach 428,278 in 2021, as per the National Crime Records Bureau, is now evident. To say that the country is becoming an unbearable place for women is not a seditious statement or an exaggeration; it is a stark reality.
