Despite sustained campaigns and legal changes, convictions have declined steadily
From the near-illegible notes scrawled by investigators at the Prasad Nagar police station, we know this: ever since 2005, the young woman who walked in through their doors last month had been stalked by her brother-in-law, given flowers and chocolate and beatings.
There was the time, a bottle of rat-poison in his hand, he threatened to kill himself if she did not declare her love; there was the time he showed up with an affidavit on Rs. 50 stamp paper, promising to marry her.
Then, there were the times he raped her.
The files do not record what led the woman to summon up the extraordinary courage it takes to file a criminal complaint for rape, but this we can be certain of: she is less likely than ever before to receive justice from India's criminal justice system.
Shameful figures
In 1973, when the National Crime Records Bureau first published nationwide statistics on rape, 44.28% of perpetrators — almost half — were being convicted by trial courts. In spite of years of hard-fought struggles by women's rights groups, and landmark Supreme Court judgments, the conviction rate has fallen to 26.5% — just about a quarter. The decade-on-decade conviction rate has been in free fall: to 36.83% in 1983, 30.30% in 1993 and 26.12% in 2003.
How dangerous is your city? (PDF)
Maharashtra reported a 13.9% conviction rate in 2010, while Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal both recorded 13.7%. Karnataka stood at 15.4%. Jammu and Kashmir had the lowest conviction rate nationwide: a disgraceful 2.6%.
India's rape crisis in 2010 (PDF)
Lawyer Rebecca John, who has worked on the frontlines of sexual assault prosecutions, holds declining investigation responsible. “I can tell you from personal experience,” she said, “that nine out of ten cases fall apart because of shoddy investigation.” “There often isn't a single fingerprint to link the perpetrator to the crime scene, let alone anything else.”
In 2009, Delhi began issuing SAFE — short for sexual assault forensic evidence — kits to all major hospitals, in the hope of improving evidence collection. “The new systems,” says Pushpa Singh, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, which has been using SAFE kits for the last year and a half, “make evidence-gathering far more accurate and useful.”
The fact is, though, that SAFE hasn't boosted conviction rates — often, an official familiar with the procedures said, because “protocol isn't followed.” “The police accompanying the victims aren't sensitised on how to deal with them; clothes and personal articles aren't stored properly; the temperature at which vaginal swabs are kept is sometimes inaccurate. The evidence is often useless.”
Legal measures haven't helped much either. In case after case, the Supreme Court has set landmark standards for rape trials — holding, among other things, that the testimony of a victim did not need independent corroboration, and insisting that women officers alone deal with victims. In trial courts, though, perpetrators are still walking free.
In not one of five 2012 cases surveyed by The Hindu had forensic tools been used to link the alleged perpetrator to the crime scene; in one, involving a 14-year-old Bihar resident kidnapped by a friend, there was no paperwork to suggest that the alleged perpetrators had even been tested for a DNA match.
“Frankly,” says Pinky Anand, an eminent New Delhi-based lawyer who has worked on several key women's rights cases, “I think we need to focus less on the law, and more on the institutions which make the law work. That's where the real problem is.”
(With inputs from Devesh Pandey and Bindu Shajan Perappadan)
Keywords: Indian laws, rape, rape victims, violence against women, rape conviction rate, rape cases
@Ramesh, seriously men should stop advising women how to dress, It
is their own will and wish, it is men's duty to respect women, Only
poor who can't afford to pay prostitute rapes, but rich also do
rape, we should educate them more and should seriously make the
system work properly, and also should punish them hard. Indian
culture have always shown great respect to Women, these mindless
dogs make is worse. Rape is not a problem only in India, but also in
many western countries, which most say developed, a recent article
by British national news paper said that 83% of rape victims never
file a complaint in Britain.
It is amazing to see that most of the people on this thread believes that men are always the culprits. There are so many cases where women lodge false cases just to extort money or satisfy their personal vendetta. Even though the news of women misusing the laws are increasing day by day, media and a section of public still believes men should be punished no matter whether they have done the crime. This is absolute nonesense. Nowadays even consensual sex is reported as rape just to take advantage of this situation.
Ramesh's comment shows his Taliban mentality, that men cannot control themselves, and women are to blame. If that were true, women wearing modest traditional dress would never be assaulted, which alas is not true. It's not women's dress but men's attitudes. If the Rameshes of the world sincerely believe that women inflame men's passions by their clothing styles, and men cannot control their lusts, then: 1) they should use a small cloth to bind their own eyes, and if that does not work 2) get themselves castrated, to save the women around them.
Let us assume for a moment that the law and legal institutions to address this problem have become most effective...but will that ensure that rape victims will feel free to lodge complains? Will the victim stop feeling guilty for being raped? Isn't there any other factor that compels the victim to be silent? Problem lies somewhere deeper... Since childhood we have never been taught that 'your body belongs to you'...there is no practice of teaching children to protect themselves from sexual abuse. This should be the part of basic education at each and every home and parents needs to be sensitized to that direction. Otherwise, even the most perfect institutional and legal mechanisms can not control the free fall of conviction rate.
Its really sad, a culture that respected women, a country with religions that respect women, now in this pathetic state..no one fears law as there is nothing that's worth fearing in our law..Why dont we think of chemical castration that was debated in Turkey for rapers? or the anti-rape kit that's popular in South Africa?
Prurient images in the media and the ads, bawdy dialogues and lyrics and gruesome violence in most movies, semi-pornographic dance sequences in movies and widespread voyeurism among the youth -- both literate and illiterate -- cannot teach or promote self-control or moral sensibility in a growing stress-ridden and neurotic society. There is a social and psychological side to this issue. The courts and the police alone cannot solve it. Control the causes to bring the consequences under control.
A wide gulf exists between our moralistic, religion-tinged public discourse on sex and the actual attitudes and behaviour of men towards women. Traditional public morality does not allow normal expressions of friendship and love between women and men; they are frowned upon by traditional society; fringe groups like Ram Sena take this traditional attitude to the extreme by beating up young lovers on the Valantine Day. This high voltage moralistic discourse leads to suppression of libidinal energy. Rapes and other violent incidents are results of this suppression. A society that allows space for normal friendships between boys and girls will not have such high levels of violence against women; in such societies we will not have elected representatives watching porn videos in the assembly.
The trauma, agony and pain the victim has to through cannot be imagined. The scar remains for the rest of their life and any amount of solace,consolation and relief cannot remove the horrible memories. We are all responsible for the actions of the government. The stat is really shameful and is unacceptable. My suggestion is that the police, lawyers and the courts should treat these cases as equal to murder as the life of the victim is totally and completely destroyed .
Unless the whole system is fixed, these patchworks will serve no purpose. There will only be newer problems from these patchwork solutions. British given education system (brainwash), legislature (where only criminals can get elected), judiciary (where verdicts are delivered, not justice), executive (where only the corrupt can hold post of significance) and controlled media (lie disseminators), all need to be revamped for anything of substance to achieved.
Rape is the most hateful and disastrous crime carried out by human beings against fellow human beings.Our capital is surrounded by one of the most backward areas of this country and I think,this fact cannot be ruled out for more number of rapes committed on women in Delhi.To prevent such cases and for making Delhi safe and secure for women,it is not just important to strengthen security infrastructure in Delhi itself but it is equally important to develop adjoining states economically,educationally and morally.
@Ramesh: Are you being serious? Victim blaming does not belong in modern society. This issue has been discussed over and over again but still keeps sprouting it's ugly head whenever there is a level-headed discussing of women's rights and sexual harassment issues. Go read a book or a newspaper or talk to some women who dress 'modestly' and still get harassed. Personally, I don't think I would be comfortable going to the police if I was sexually assaulted. Maybe if there was an actual system in which such cases are dealt with I would be more secure. Most rapes involve friends and family of the victim so such a low conviction rate is just absurd. Also there are very rarely one-time rapists. A rapist just doesn't attack one woman and then have a change of heart. So there is something really wrong with the system.
In my opinion, we need to include this in our school education, i.e. for boys as well as girls. For boys it could be what is the right way to treat girls irrespective of how they might be showing off their beauty whereas for girls it could be what possible outcomes might come as a result of their behavior or way of expressing themselves through the clothes they wear. From many of my female friends, what I understand is that they tend to think it as a value add to wear clothes that really attract guys and the negative side of it doesn't seem to be that dominant in their way of thinking. Mostly our girls wear western clothes to imitate western girls. But the fact is western girls are much liberal in terms of their sexual life as well. Our girls need to understand this. I am not trying to justify the guys who do wrong to girls because she's dressing western but to convey that we need to educate people about the outcome of their behavior, both guys and girls.
In the absence of legal justice, there may be more vigilante justice, including media-based. The institutions need to get their act together to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book in the correct manner. The number of cases of rape seems to be spiralling out of control. Don't these rapists have mothers and sisters? Why do they view women as sexual objects?
Indian men are fundamentally horny and our movies portray women as sex objects. Nothing will change until the Indian men's mentality changes, which will happen largely when India becomes developed. Which will take 35 yrs.
The topic of rapes in India has been a big issue ever since .I think there must be a proper way to teach people to respect women.This does not imply that women are not respected but this does imply that an understanding must be developed in the minds of every citizen ,not only stop this crime but also to take step to remove its existence.
However hard we try to pretend that women are being given same status as men in our society today, the fact remains that women are still being looked down as objects; objects to desire and lay hands on whenever felt like. The rules of the society around woman are anything but woman-friendly; if a woman wants to marry a man of her choice,it is frowned upon by our society, and if a man forces himself on a woman it is again the woman who has to face the wrath of society. As they say 'charity begins at home', respect for woman is also something that should be taught and demonstrated at home. As for justice to the woman who has been a victim of this heinous crime, why torture her more by denying her justice? Given the figures for crimes against woman, it is essential that our police force has a cell dedicated to handle these crimes; a mix of women and men police officers who should not only be given proper training to deal with such cases but should also be sensitised to this cause.
Rape is the most heinous crime. It breaks the girl from internally. All other type of crimes may be tolerate but this rape directly effect on mental condition and she has to live with this scar on her life. Still our society is not able to give judgement to women in any manner. Rape is very far thing. So Society should take more stringent step and try their best to bring the preparators behind bars.
In a complex and diverse society, it is hard to really pin point any one reason for crimes of this nature. But there is absolutely no excuse for a police force that is largely inefficient, incapable and incompetent at so many levels. Most of the time, in ANY sort of investigation, Indian police just want to close the case, and do not DO anything to solve it. They just won't do the work. If there is a buck to be made somewhere, however, they will buzz like bees. Or if a minister has to be provided "protection" or "bandobust". That is all they are fit for. This shoddiness should not reflect on the fate of our female rape victims.
now adays women scarcely dress themselves.This arouses passion in the minds of men.Those who can afford to marry get married and satisfy themselves.Those who cannot afoord to get married,go to a prostitute for a smaller financial implication. Those who cannot afford a prostitute also ,rape when an oppurtunity arises. Hence it is better that women dress themselves better before thinking of punishing men.
The flaw is in the judicial system. In my view, the victim's
testimony and the DNA tests should be enough for conviction. I
believe it should be made mandatory that the accused should be
obliged to prove his innocence (This should not be in any crime
other than rape). Why I am saying this? It is because in Indian
culture, a woman accusing someone of raping her has a probability
of less than 1 in 10 million. And once the guilt is proved, the
perpetrator should be castrated or made impotent by any other
means.
Any rape accident snatches the soul out of the victim.She is never the
same person again. She undergoes the agony on a daily basis.But our law
enforcing agency do not care.We need another Dhananjoy Chatterjee type
execution to give a lesson to all the rapist walking freely in the
corridors of country.
Everyone of us blame the government machinery for the problems.. but we
as citizens should participate in the social activities and drive the
change. Developed countries see their people contributing effectively
for the benefit of the country. Here few people do it, but unless there
are huge numbers, there wont be any change and we will continue to
suffer.
First of all why people of north eastern region are made the main
target, because of friendly nature of north-east girls and their free
minded spirit made them more prone to be prey of those rapists. But
because of this we cannot say that girls should not go out and mix up
freely, in my view men should be given proper teaching through their
education system about respecting of the human life and freedom. And
then only this menace will be over. But in reality we suppress girls and
allow boys to move freely ultimately doing injustice to the girls.
It might be true that the prospects of justice for rape victims have fallen. But it's not logically sound to use the statistic of conviction rate to back this. The problem is not with the courts, but with the police.
Honour and life are sacred things for any human being. Violation to these two have to be taken with high importance to give message to the public. They are not isolated incidents. It can happen to anybody.Public also need to protect themselves till we find good laws implemented.
Some age-old practices in India die hard?
In my opinion, the men who rape should be by strict law made IMPOTENT by surgery or by drugs.
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