Prof.M.K.Bhat
The tussle between Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi and Delhi police on the stabbing of a 19 Year old girl Meenakshi in broad daylight at Anand Parbhat talks of seriousness of those in power regarding the safety of women in Delhi. On the same fateful day, a 7 year old girl was raped and killed in Begumpur outer Delhi, but there was no furore. This discrimination for two victims in itself hints to political posturing rather than finding a solution to the problem. It seems that the shedding of crocodile tears for women has become a regular feature of present day politicians without being least serious about the various problems confronting them in India. The much heat generated at the time of Nirbhaya got extinguished in just a span of two years. It is shocking that many gruesome cases have been done in last two years by the hooligans but no one knows when the politicians/officials will awake. The big talk of safety of women fizzles away with the talk of their reservation in the legislatures. Political parties have no plan of their safety except distributing tax payers’ money as exgratia after every happening. We are still in the patriarchal mode not ready to accept women freedom. It is a shame that women in India continue to become victims at the hands of acid attackers, rapists and other heinous criminals even in 21st century. Instead of getting things to fizzle in the oblivion, it becomes imperative for everyone to think how the plight of women will improve in the country under the present circumstances .
Atrocities on women are against the spirit of India. On the one hand, they are held as an incarnation of goddess and are being worshipped as Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati, so goes the saying ‘Yatra Naryastu Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devta’ – where woman are worshiped, God resides, and on the other their position at present has degenerated to its lowest ebb. They are not safe within the four walls of their home even. They are burned for dowry, honor, wearing, objecting to the lust of the vulgar, domestic violence etc. All this suffocation to women indicates our backwardness. Women comprise half of the total population of the country and no country can progress if its half population feels threatened every time. It is not only economic independence but social recognition too is required by her to ascertain her position in the society. The slogan ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padao’ can be practical only when the harassment she faces gets curtailed.
The abuse against women is not only rising but it is also taking horrific dimensions day by day. We are diverse people but the only thing common in the majority of people from north to south is the domination/exploitation of the women folk in the country. The empowerment of a few women has not made much difference at the ground level partially because empowerment has got confined to the elite section only. There have been a few master pieces like women Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and even high level executives but their impact on the society has been minimal. The abuses like dowry, illiteracy, economic and social discrimination have been with her all along, the recent addition to this list is sexual abuse, rape roadside attacks, acid attacks and even death. These abuses are no more confined to metro areas only but spreading in every corner of the country and despite the repeated incidents no serious effort is done to restore the confidence of women in India. On the other hand, religious and social values are put forth to suppress her.
The plight of women gets clear from the fact that more than 40 percent of cases of sexual abuse happen due to family and friends and 85 percent rape cases take place within the house / premises . The number of rape cases in Delhi stood at 507 in 2010 and it rose to 2166 in 2014 .
There were 24,270 victims of rape in the country in 2012 . Out of these 10.6% (2,582) of the total victims of rape were girls under 14 years of age, while 19.0% (4,646) victims were teen aged girls (14-18 years). 54.7% (13,264) victims were women in the age-group 18-30 years. However 15.0% (3637) victims were in the age group of 30-50 years while 0.6% (141 victims) was over 50 years of age. Offenders were known to the victims in as many as 22,549 (94.2%) cases. Parents/close family members were involved in 1.2% (267 out of 22,549) of these cases, neighbors were involved in 34.7% cases (7,835 out of 22,549 cases) and relatives were involved in 6.9% (1560 out of 22,549 cases).
Dowry death is another abuse against women and has spread throughout India. It is the most common form of torture resulting in Bride burning . The various laws in this context have remained mostly confined to law books only. These cases have increased by 2.7% during the year 2011 over the previous year (8,391 cases). 26.9% of the total such cases reported in the country were reported from Uttar Pradesh (2,322) cases, followed by Bihar (1,413 cases) (16.4%). The highest rate of crime (1.4) was reported from Bihar as compared to the National average of 0.711. The actual figure may be much more than this because many do not report such incidents to police and domestic violence is accepted more or less as fate by many women in India.
The crime graph against women will not come down only by vigilant police force but there is an utmost need of social awareness campaigns. People need to be educated about the horrific impact of such things on the collective conscience of the society. They need to be conveyed that women is not only a sex symbol but more than that. It is not sex education but moral education in the schools that can go a long way in solving the problem. It should be accompanied by empowering women economically. The laws should be made stringent and executed with full clarity of thought and action. Education of girls should be made compulsory and a complete ban on dowry needs to be promulgated. Media needs to be sensitive. Sometimes in order to get good returns commoditification of women takes place in films advertisements etc. The internet also plays its due role. The free flow of pornography on certain websites creates bad impression on the young minds and they feel excited to do the wrong things.
Those who feel apathy towards the plight of women must realize that if today it is someone else tomorrow, it can be your own so it is better to find a solution rather than shy from the facts. Pt. Nehru had rightly said that “you can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women”.
(The author is Deputy Director (MAIMS) Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Delhi)
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