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| Crime against women | | | Mahadeep Singh Jamwal | 4/16/2018 10:04:05 PM |
| When we speak of the genderspecific crime, it means the crime (an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority) that is directed specifically against female and described as 'Crime against Women'. The re-track to the gender-specific crime take us to 'Treta Yug', when 'Sita' was abducted by 'Ravana' and he has to reap the harvest of crime by death and destruction of his kingdom by 'Rama', husband of 'Sita', believed to be incarnation of lord 'Vishnu'. In 'Dwapara Yug', when 'Yudhishthra' forfeited all to 'Duryodhana' in 'dice game' pursued by a outrageous move by 'Dushashan' to disrobe (Cheer Haran) 'Darupadi' was an assault and insult to the modesty of woman, rescued by 'Krishna' another incarnation of 'Vishnu'. This act of crime germinated 'Mahabharata' that engendered total destruction of 'Kaurvas'. When we whisper of 'Kali Yuga', the era we are passing through, we have witnessed self immolation 'Sati Pratha' enforced in Hindu upper caste as a gender-specific crime (as abetment to commit suicide) in bygone days, that used to be enforced and practiced by left over group of woman after defeat of his master, in order to secure her modesty and to maintain chastity. Synopsis of 'Kali Yuga' making headlines during last week of December 2017 is awakening events concerning gender-specific crime. In Mumbai; a woman raped and robbed by Ola cab driver and passenger. Surat; 22-year-old man arrested for raping 4 year old girl in Navsari. Jammu; minor raped by two. Mumbai; A 53 Year old High Court lawyer arrested for marrying and repeatedly raping a 15-year-old girl. West Delhi; 17 year old girl raped in rehabilitation center: Threatened to kill father and leak her nude picture. Thiruvananthapuram; Alleged rape of 51 year old woman; Charge sheet filed against Congress MLA Vincent. Thane; man molested minor tribal girl. In Madhya Pradesh; a class 11 student gang raped in Sarpanch's house. In Jhansi, a class 9 student, raped by an English teacher. A rape attempted on 3 years old in Sambalpur Sadar hospital. Muzaffarpur; minor girl gang raped at gunpoint and three men allegedly raped a woman and severed her head. In New Delhi; 60 year old man sexually assaults two minors. In Bokaro; a Hindu girl gang raped, by her in-laws, after she refuses to convert to Islam. Mumbai; Thane girl of 17 years stabs her father for molesting her. Uttar-Pradesh; man held for raping girls on pretext of teaching texts. Lucknow; 51 girls rescued from 'Madrasa', allege sexual harassment by manager. Noida; 6 year old girl sexually assaulted. Uttar Pradesh; Stepfather arrested for raping girl. Delhi; dance teacher arrested for abducting, raping student. 8 year old girl kidnapped, raped and murdered and culprits including, minor, police officials and senior citizen in Kathua leading to an upheaval in government is not less than a butchers job.
The interesting facts about this series of crime during last week of December 2017 is their diversification from one another and the victim from minor (even 4 years) to 65 years of age, accused from taxi drivers, lawyer, MLA, school teacher, dance teacher and even father and stepfather and locations where crime committed; Sarpanch's house, lawyers residence, houses of victim as well as of accused, moving vehicle, Hospital, work places, school premise, and 'Madarsas'. The scrutiny is to install into public domain, to considerate in which order the civilization is gripping and what mentality has captivated us?
Sex related offences are universal phenomena, which take place in every society in different circumstances and social settings. Here we have to worry, how is violence against women portrayed in popular culture? From film to television to music videos, song lyrics, and advertisements, violence against women is often portrayed as normal or erotic. Some critics say that such attitudes conveyed in the media can set the stage for actual crime against women. The ethics of gender impartiality are preserved in the Constitution of India. Our IPC and Local & Special Laws have broad spectrum of offences related to gender-specific crime and are enough to deal with the situation. The quantum of punishment is debatable. The punishments set out for convicted sex offenders in India have recently been reformed, largely in response to the 'Nirbhaya' case. Public calls for the death penalty are not unusual when heinous crimes are committed. Another form of punishment that has gained popularity in India as a possible solution to the prevalence of rape is chemical castration. The Justice Verma Commission set up following the murder of 'Nirbhaya' has suggested amendments to the law to provide for quicker trials in rape cases and enhanced punishments for sexual offences. The bill called "Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak, 2017 " that loosely translates to the 'punishment method' unanimously passed that will allow courts to decree death penalties for the perpetrator(s) found guilty of raping minor girls aged 12 or younger. It is required to be legislated by the parliament for entire country.
A cursory look into the data of gender-specific crime from the year 2011 onward speaks of increasing trends. The cases reported in 2011 were 2, 28,650 cases, which further increased to 2, 44,270 cases in 2012, and 3, 09,546 cases in 2013, to 3, 37,922 cases in 2014. It declined bit to 3, 27,394 in 2015. The IPC component of crimes against women has accounted for 96.1% of total crimes and the remaining 3.9% were Local & Special Laws crime. A further shameful revelation speaks that there were 561 victims in 557 reported incest rape (rape by blood relation like father, brother etc.) cases in the country during the year 2015 involving 55 victims in the age group 6 - 12 years, 134 victims in age group 12-16 years, 108 victims in age group 16 - 18 years, 196 victims in the age group of 18 - 30 years. More than 50% victims in incest cases were girls below 18 years of age. A total of 34,094 cases were registered for 34,210 victims under 'other than incest rapes' during 2015. Out of 34,651 rape cases, in 33,098 cases the offenders were known to the victims accounting for 95.5% of total rape cases.
On political platform, the parties gave tickets to candidates even after having declared cases related to crimes against women in their affidavits. We find 51 MPs and MLAs in present set up (claim by ADR) have declared cases related to crimes against women. The charges are related to assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, kidnapping, abducting, rape, and word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has desired that candidates with a criminal background should be debarred from contesting elections. It has urged political parties to disclose the selection criteria of election candidates.
Concluding sexual violence is a serious problem that can have lasting, harmful effects on victims and their family, friends, and communities. The solutions, however, are just as complex as the problem. We have to admit that sending an individual convicted of gender-specific crime to prison isn't a very effective way to deter crime, increasing the severity of punishment does little to deter crime, and more severe punishments do not chasten individuals convicted of this crime. It's a rape prevention programs required to be initiated in the vast field of society. The groundswell of public and media fury over recent high-profile rape cases may have precipitated a political moment, providing impetus for much needed reforms in the law, policing practices, and other aspects of India's criminal justice system. |
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