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This Op-Ed contains content some readers may find distressing
How would you describe India? A nation diverse in its traditions and culture, or the new Rape Capital?
Everybody knows India as a country with a variety of unique rituals, cultures, and traditions. However, what is saddening now, is that the nation is no longer known for its beautiful heritage, but for the rising number of rape cases.
India also stands among the top countries where the crime against women has been increasing rapidly. Reports claim that one girl is sexually abused every 15 minutes, and recent statistics suggest that the number of rape cases have increased during the lockdown period. While the entire world was fighting against COVID-19, many women and girls had to fight their own battles. It is extremely concerning that the constitution still permits marital rape, unless the wife is between 15 and 18 years of age.
Some activists fear that sexual abuse against minors will spike amidst the coronavirus pandemic, as victims become trapped with their abusers.
It often feels like the topic of rape has become so normalised, so common, that it no longer shocks people. Reading news headlines about rape cases on adaily basis leads to desensitisation, and has failed to create a significant impact or sense of awareness.
Recently, one such rape case was the gang rape of a 19-year-old woman, whose death in a Delhi hospital two weeks after she was brutally attacked sparked protests and anguish. She was cremated near her home in Hathras , Uttar Pradesh in the dead of the night ,as her family alleged they were forced by local police to conduct the last rites in secret. “The cremation was done around 2.30-3 in the morning,” her father told PTI, a day after the young woman died, having been grievously injured by four upper caste men.
As political leaders and activists voiced their protest on social media and other platforms over the manner in which the funeral was conducted, local police said it was carried out as per the wishes of the family .
Lower-caste women are disproportionately affected by rapes in India, and many argue this is a result of the abusive power dynamic enforced by wealthier men. Dalit women are “among the most oppressed in the world”, as they endure sexism, casteism, and financial hardship. Police are often slow to register complaints, and officials often doubt accusations of rape - sometimes appearing to defend the alleged perpetrators.
This incident is not an isolated one; weeks after the Dalit girl from UP’s Hathras was allegedly gang-raped and assaulted in a millet field, a similar incident has come to light from the Satrikh area of Barabanki district. An 18-year-old girl, who also belonged to the Dalit community, was found dead in the fields near her house on the evening of Wednesday the 14th of October. The autopsy revealed that she was raped and murdered.
According to police, the victim’s father stated that, at around 4 pm on Wednesday, his daughter went to the nearby fields. Later, when she didn’t return home even after it got dark, he began searching for her. She was found lying in the fields in an unconscious state with her hands tied. Police were informed, and she was taken to a health centre in the vicinity where she was declared dead. Later, the post-mortem examination confirmed rape and strangulation.
Brutal crimes against women have occured since the beginning of time, and sadly they persist. But until when? If we don’t speak up now, when will we? What are we waiting for?