Rape: a social stigma

Now when the dust has settled up to large extent; the anger of people and reckless protests are doused by the government’s stringent measures. The widespread debate over death sentence for the rape convicts and stringent punishment seems to have taken backseat. Nothing new here. Government does it all the time. Media do bring lacunae to the fore and rabble rousers do assure of the actions but, in the end, much to the dismay, what people get generally is- only disappointment.

It all started about 10 days back when a 23- year old student was brutally raped and sexually assaulted in the moving bus and that too on the one of the busiest routes of the national capital. To demonstrate their anger against government’s inaction people came to the streets in large number and thronged the India gate. Clashes between policemen and protestors were the news headlines every day in the morning. People especially the girls wanted justice this time, they wanted the capital in particular and the nation in general a safe and secured place where girls have right to move freely, right to dress the way they want and the right of dignified life.

National crime records bureau data shown that most of the rapes happen in the capital. The surveys conducted show that girls and women don’t consider Delhi, a safe place to live in anymore.  Rape after rape, assaults after assaults have earned Delhi the status of crime capital.

Many reasons can be attributed for the increased rape instances which inter alia include:  

-          The poor conviction rate: Weak criminal justice system, pendency of cases, inordinate delays, and inefficient forensic agencies enable the culprits to go scot free. Had there been an efficient justice delivery system, the crimes like rape and sexual assaults might have curbed significantly. 

-          Lack of stringent laws and stringent punishment: There would not have been even a single day when you don’t find news related to rape or gang rape in the newspapers. However, such cases don’t draw our legislators’ attention towards the issue. They find themselves too busy rable-rousing most of the time and when the parliament is in session they are conspicuously busy thinking how to stall the day to day activities. Tearing the bills and crowding the floor of the parliament houses does show how concerned they are of their legislative mandate. Since parliament while in session most of the time remains suspended, much needed bills like sexual assault of women bill, the criminal law (amendment) bill and many others are not passed.    

-          Patriarchal society: The Indian society being patriarchal the rape incidents most of the times go unreported. The women fear that bringing the case to the light will undermine their as well as their families’ social status. 

-          Poor enforcement agencies: Though the laws to curb crimes against women hardly exist and in case there any such law, their poor implementation makes them worthy not more than a piece of paper. There have been many instances where cases of rape are not registered by the police. Even if they are registered, only in few cases proper action and investigation is carried out and convicts are brought behind the bars. And what if protector turns predator itself. There are many instances of custodial rapes and sexual assaults. According to the complaints registered by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), at least 45 custodial rapes took place between 2002 and 2010.    

-          Criminal background of MPs: A survey by National election watch showed that 1/3^rd of our MPs and MLAs are accused for charges for rape and murder. In such a situation you can expect from the legislators anything but a stringent law curbing the rape incidents.

-          Lack of women police stations: The central government has many times instructed the state governments to establish women police stations and recruit more women police officers. However much to the dismay, nothing has been done by the state governments. Let others alone, the so called crime capital, Delhi does not have women police stations.

The recent held protests and efforts by voluntary organisations have revealed the leadership vacuum in the government. In a fit of anger, protestors demanded the death penalty for the rapists. Few experts also advised for the chemical castration to curb the rape incidents. Whether death penalty or the castration for the crimes like rape is advisable? Probably not, for the following reasons:

-          The already low conviction rate can further deteriorate. The judiciary resort to death penalty only in rarest of the rare cases after the Bachan singh case. Proving the crime the rarest of the rare case has always been topic of debate and a bone of contention. Date after date and hearing after hearing delay the conviction. According to the Supreme Court, the rarest of the rare case is one which affects the large faction of the society. Whether rape of a woman affects society as a whole is again a debatable topic. And if it could not be proved that the incident has taken its toll over the society, the convict goes scot free which is highly condemnable.

-          Moreover, according to NCRB data, 94% of rape convicts are not the strangers. Therefore, it would be difficult to see our uncles, brothers and sometimes even father being hanged and people would dither while registering a case against them.

-          Fearing that once nabbed the convict will be given death penalty, the life of the victim will be further jeopardised.

-          There has been no evidence to prove that death penalty can reduce the crimes such as rape and sexual assault.

-          When most of the countries except few middle eastern states are mulling of ending the capital punishment, increasing the ambit for the death penalty may be criticised by the human rights organisations. The recent held UN general assembly to stop capital punishment was accepted by 110 countries out of about 150 countries.

-          As far as chemical castration is concerned, it does reduce the sexual urge of the convict and experts consider it to be a panacea to curb the rape incidents. But rape is not about the manifestation of extreme sexual urge. Rape is about power, violence, intimidation and humiliation. Attempts to reduce the incidence of rape by controlling the sexual urge of men are bound to be ineffective because they invoke a very shallow and inadequate understanding of rape.  

What should be done then?

-          As early as possible the government should pass the stringent laws to curb such heinous crimes.

-          Women police stations should be established and women personnel should be recruited. A separate women cell in each police station is quite feasible idea.

-          CCTV supervision and patrolling in the black spots (where such crimes are committed generally) and public places should be increased.

-          Police personnel should be rewarded for actions taken to curb crimes against women. Even their annual confidential reports should include a separate column for noteworthy actions undertaken by him against rapists or such other perpetrators.

-          During police training they should be made sensitized towards women rights.

-          Fast track courts should be established for speedy trial of convicts.

-          Removal of the prior sanction required for prosecution of public servants in the cases of custodial rapes. In the cases of custodial rapes the law enforcement personnel enjoy virtual immunity as prior sanction is required for their prosecution even in cases of custodial rape.

-          Amendment in the Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Penal Code. Amendment in the Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (rape) and Section 354 (outraging modesty of women) to include a broad offence of sexual assault graded based on harm and to provide for punishment commensurate with the sexual assault.

There are many cases of atrocities and brutalities against women but they go unreported and unnoticed. With the help of media when such cases surface, people demonstrate anger against government and government to please and tranquilise the protests do announce its policies, however, most of the time their worlds never materialise into the laws.

Rape and sexual assault breach the dignity and bodily integrity of the women and forces her to live a life with agony and anguish. Since independence we are talking of empowering the women, in every budget we allocate resources for empowerment of them. All these efforts are in vain if women in the country are not provided with a safe and secure environment to live in.  The need of the hour is imposition of stringent laws and speedy trials which can act as deterrent to the perpetrators before commencing any such act.