RAPE: WE WANT JUSTICE! RIGHT NOW!

INTRODUCTION

I'm broken, dear people; I'm broken. How much more must I endure? How much more? I’m shaking while writing this article. My heart wants to exclaim loudly, but who will listen and provide a solution? Nobody reads about it. I wish to ask men, why do you do this? Why do you rape women? Recently, a sex worker from Sonagashi asked, why did you rape the girl who was studying so diligently and was about to become a doctor? If you want sex, come to us. Why did you ruin the life of a trainee doctor and her poor family members? What was their fault? Was her only fault that she was a girl? Is it a heinous crime to be born a girl? I don’t want to write about this issue. However, the outrage is so strong that I cannot stop myself from writing about it. We must understand the sensitivity of this issue from the depth of our hearts, particularly boys and men, as they are the cause of this heinous, disgraceful, and never-acceptable act.

Let's delve into this topic in detail from the very beginning to understand how crucial it is for boys and men to recognize the pain and outrage of girls and women.

Who is a girl? There are two ways to answer this question. Firstly, a biological definition states that a person with XX chromosomes usually has female sex and reproductive organs, and is therefore typically assigned as female. Secondly, the definition varies from place to place. For example, in an orthodox society, a woman is seen as someone who is expected to work in the house, take care of the family, and look after children. This is evident in the conditions of women in underdeveloped and developing nations. In the modern society described by Fred W. Riggs, a woman is financially independent, free to choose her work, marry whom she wants, and conceive when she chooses. To sum up, the world holds two opposing views on women: on one side, it tries to dominate women, while on the other, women have equal rights to act against men.

EVOLUTION: SPACE FOR WOMEN IN INDIAN SOCIETY

To understand the actual condition of girls and women in India, we need a broad comprehension of their situations throughout the civilization's development in India.

The eras can be divided into three parts: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Astonishingly, the socio-economic conditions of Indian women changed significantly across these three eras.

Let's examine the socio-economic conditions of women in India in the following manner:

(i) Ancient Era:

In ancient India, Hinduism was the predominant religion, later followed by Buddhism and Jainism. Hinduism includes the concept of Shakti, which suggests that when there was nothing, only space existed, and from that space, the element of female or Shakti emerged, giving rise to all other things in the universe. In Sanātan Dharma, when the Vedas were written—considered the oldest and most organized religious texts—there were both male and female saints who engaged in discussions and debates known as Shashtrartha. Female Rishis (Rishikas) like Romasa, Lopamudra, Apala, Kadru, Visvavara, Ghosha, Juhu, Vagambhrini, Paulomi, Yami, Indrani, Savitri, and Devajami are mentioned in the Rigveda. The Rigveda encourages women's education and participation in religious ceremonies and sacrifices. The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata also reflect the esteemed position of women in Indian society. Women were considered to be like Laxmi or the Goddess of Wealth. Thus, the overall socio-economic condition of women was decent and respectable in ancient India.

(ii) Medieval Era:

During the medieval period, foreign invasions led to numerous atrocities. Invaders not only attacked territorial boundaries but also plundered temples, killed the general populace to spread terror, and abducted and raped women, selling them as servants and sex slaves. For example, Indian women were sold in the market of Afghanistan under Mahmood Ghazni, Timur Lang’s attack in 1398, and the military expeditions of Jalauddin Khalji from 1296 to 1316, who plundered Deccan’s jewelry and took princesses from those states. These incidents led people to protect their women in unprecedented ways, resulting in practices such as child marriage, female infanticide, the Pardah system, and depriving women of formal education. Rajput women practiced self-immolation, known as Jauhar, to protect their sanctity. Thus, the socio-economic conditions of women during this period were unsatisfactory and appalling.

(iii) Modern Era:

The modern era can be divided into two periods: the pre-independence period and the post-independence period. The former covers the British rule in India, while the latter pertains to the democratic government of India. The modern period began with the later Mughal era or after the Battle of Plassey around the 1750s. Initially, the socio-economic conditions of women remained stagnant until Indian social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and William Bentinck abolished the Sati system in 1826. Alongside Roy, others like Savitribai Phule, Mahatma Phule, Dayanand Saraswati, and Ishwarchand Vidyasagar made significant contributions to improving women's lives by promoting widow remarriage, education for girls, and the abolition of child marriage. Women like Sarojini Naidu, Madam Bhikaji Kama, Aruna Asaf Ali, Kasturba Gandhi, and Captain Arya fought against the British. After gaining freedom from British rule, India’s democratic government established the Constitution in 1950, which includes Articles 14 to 18, ensuring the right to equality and prohibiting discrimination based on gender, caste, creed, or religion. Since 1947, numerous laws and regulations have been enacted to improve and empower women’s socio-economic conditions. Despite advancements, issues such as rape remain prevalent, with a significant increase in incidents over time.

FORMS OF ATROCITIES BORNE BY WOMEN

As Acharya Prashant stated, "The most downtrodden class among all classes of human beings is women, as they face beatings and atrocities everywhere, irrespective of caste and class." The National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) annual report reveals a staggering 445,256 cases of crimes against women in 2022, averaging approximately 51 FIRs every hour. This marks a notable increase from 2021 (428,278 cases) and 2020 (371,503 cases), reflecting a 12.9% increase from 2018, with an average of 1,220 cases per day. Various forms of atrocities that women face include:

Molestation/Eve Teasing: Sexual harassment in public, which can be verbal, physical, or involve lewd gestures.
Acid Attacks: A growing problem in India, with the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) reporting a sharp increase in recent years. According to the Acid Survivor Foundation, 70% of acid attack victims in India are women.
Domestic Violence: The National Commission for Women (NCW) recorded 6,274 complaints of domestic violence in 2023, out of a total of 28,811 complaints of crimes against women.
Rape: India registered 31,677 cases of rape in 2021—an average of 86 daily—while nearly 49 cases of crimes against women were lodged every hour, according to the latest government report. According to the NCRB, a rape occurs in India every 6 minutes on average.
Marital Rape: Marital rape is not considered rape in India. If marital rape were classified as rape, 99% of cases would be unreported. India is one of 36 countries that has not criminalized marital rape.
Casting Couch: A significant issue in the film industry, where established individuals demand sex from aspiring actresses in exchange for roles.
Gender Inequality: Gender inequality persists in various spheres, including family, office, politics, sports, and the film industry. Actresses often receive less pay than their male co-actors, and parents tend to grant more liberty to sons compared to daughters.
Gender Stereotypes: Gender roles are stereotyped, with military service considered suitable only for boys and household chores assigned only to girls.
Female Infanticide: The killing of female infants after birth.
Female Foeticide: The killing of female fetuses in the womb.
Dowry: Despite strict laws, dowry-related deaths are still prevalent in India, often disguised as gifts during marriage ceremonies.

The National Family Health Survey-5 found that almost one-third of women aged 15-49 in India have experienced some form of violence.

WHAT IS RAPE AND ITS PROVISIONS IN BNS 2023?

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) of 2023 defines rape as the act of a man committing rape on a woman under the age of 18, with or without her consent. The BNS also provides separate sections for the punishment of rape involving women under 12 and 16 years of age.

Rape: Provisions under the BNS, 2023

1. Section 63:

This section defines the term ‘Rape.’ It states that:

“A man is said to commit ‘rape’ if he -
penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra, or anus of a woman, or makes her do so with him or any other person; or
inserts, to any extent, any object or a part of the body, other than the penis, into the vagina, urethra, or anus of a woman, or makes her do so with him or any other person; or
manipulates any part of a woman's body to cause penetration into the vagina, urethra, anus, or any part of the body of such woman, or makes her do so with him or any other person; or
applies his mouth to the vagina, anus, or urethra of a woman, or makes her do so with him or any other person under the circumstances falling under any of the following seven descriptions:
against her will;
without her consent;
with her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person she is interested in, in fear of death or of hurt;
with her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married;
with her consent when, at the time of giving such consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of what she consents to;
with or without her consent, when she is under eighteen years of age;
when she is unable to communicate consent.”

2. Section 64:

Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita deals with the punishment for rape. Section 64(1) states that “Whoever, except in the cases provided for in subsection (2), commits rape, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment of either description for a term not less than ten years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to a fine.” Section 64 (2) states that “Whoever— being a police officer, commits rape -

within the limits of the police station to which such police officer is appointed; or
in the premises of any station house; or
on a woman in such police officer’s custody or in the custody of a police officer subordinate to such police officer; or
being a public servant, commits rape on a woman in such public servant’s custody or in the custody of a public servant subordinate to such public servant; or
being a member of the armed forces deployed in an area by the Central Government or a State Government commits rape in such area; or
being on the management or on the staff of a jail, remand home, or other place of custody established by or under any law for the time being in force or of a women’s or children’s institution, commits rape on any inmate of such jail, remand home, place, or institution; or
being on the management or on the staff of a hospital, commits rape on a woman in that hospital; or
being a relative, guardian, or teacher of, or a person in a position of trust or authority towards the woman, commits rape on such woman; or
commits rape during communal or sectarian violence; or
commits rape on a woman knowing her to be pregnant; or
commits rape on a woman incapable of giving consent; or
being in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such woman; or
commits rape on a woman suffering from mental or physical disability; or
while committing rape causes grievous bodily harm or maims or disfigures or endangers the life of a woman; or
commits rape repeatedly on the same woman,” should be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which should mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and a fine.

3. Section 65:

This section highlights punishment for rape in certain cases. Section 65(1) states that whoever commits an offense of rape on a woman under 16 years of age should be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 20 years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which should mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and a fine provided that such fine should be paid to the victim and should be a reasonable amount to cover the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim. On the other hand, Section 65(2) illustrates that whoever commits rape on a woman under 12 years of age should be punished with the punishment mentioned in sub-section (1) or with death.

4. Section 66:

Whoever commits an offense of rape and causes the death of the woman or causes her to be in a persistent vegetative state should be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 20 years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which should mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, or with death.

5. Section 67:

According to this provision, sexual intercourse by a husband with his wife during separation and without her consent should be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than 2 years but which may extend to 7 years and also be liable to a fine.

6. Section 68:

This section of BNS deals with sexual intercourse by a person in authority being in a position of authority or a fiduciary relationship, or a public servant, or a superintendent or manager (of jail, remand home, women’s institution, or children’s institution or other place of custody established under any law), or on the management of a hospital or being on the staff of a hospital. It states that if a person in authority abuses such position or fiduciary relationship to induce or seduce any woman either in his custody or under his charge or present in the premises to have sexual intercourse with him, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offense of rape, should be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 5 years but which may extend to 10 years and a fine.

8. Section 69:

This section states that if an individual who, by deceitful means or by making a promise to marry a woman without any intention of fulfilling it, has sexual intercourse with her, and such sexual intercourse does not amount to the offense of rape, should be punished with imprisonment which may extend to 10 years and a fine.

9. Section 70:

It deals with the punishments for the offense of gang rape. According to Section 70(1) of the BNS, “Where a woman is raped by one or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offense of rape and shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than twenty years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and with a fine. Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim. Provided further that any fine imposed under this sub-section shall be paid to the victim.”

According to Section 70(2) of the BNS, “Where a woman under eighteen years of age is raped by one or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offense of rape and shall be punished with imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and with a fine, or with death. Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim. Provided further that any fine imposed under this sub-section shall be paid to the victim.”

HOW DOES ONE BECOME A RAPIST?

In most cases, it has been observed that the outlook of the rapist is like normal people, often, they behave normally, but their mentality is abnormal. Their mentality is just absolutely vulgar, disgraceful and obnoxious about women. They think of women as an opportunity to satisfy their sensual feelings; that's it. There are multifold reasons why they become like that. In several studies, it has been tried to know the reasons why people become rapists. Therefore, in the following bullet points, we will try to understand the causes on account of which an individual becomes a rapist:

Those people who are more exposed to pornography.
Early-age indulgence in masturbation
The people who are in company with fringe elements of the society.
The people who are surrounded by the orthodox or conventional and irrelevant mindsets of the people. They consider girls or women as sex toys or objects which are in existence to use and keep aside, and again use and keep aside.
The children who had to face mental trauma strongly influenced their adult behaviour.

WHAT IS THE GENERAL PROFILE OF A RAPIST?

There are certain characteristics of a rapist which are found in most of the rape cases and those points have been given below:

As per the NCRB 2022, in 97% of the cases the rapists are known. The person may be in a family relation in the neighbourhood or a friend circle, etc.
In most cases, rapists are young.
It has been found that most of the rapists are less educated.
In almost all cases, the rapist has an orthodox and disrespectful approach towards girls\women.
Objectification of women is the most common point which is found in all the cases.

In addition to this, Madhumita Pandey, a researcher who interviewed 122 rapists, including the rapists of the Nirbhaya Rape Case in Tihar jail and concluded that there is one major difference between a murderer and a rapist. Murderers regret what they have done by killing person\persons, whereas Rapists don't have any regret for their deeds.

She also found that the rapists accepted that they sexually assaulted the female but they didn't agree that they raped the girl\woman.

She further found in her research work that the rapists are thoroughly unaware of the concept called Consent. In case the female is his wife, they don't even think that there is any need to get consent from the woman to set up a sexual relationship.

CAUSE: WHY DOES RAPE HAPPEN?

Why does rape happen? What is the reason behind it? This is the obvious question which often comes to mind of everyone. Whenever an incident like rape happens anywhere in the country, people start asking this question. Why? Why did such a cruel incident happen? In the subsequent paragraphs, we will have the answer to this question. To, however, get the answer to this question, we need to look at two things. First, what are the reasons which are told or suggested by society for the occurrence of such incidences? And secondly, what are the actual reasons behind such incidences? Thus, let's pay our attention without any further delay.

(i) Reasons told by orthodox society: The causes which are suggested by orthodox people are the following:

Romantic Relationship: The orthodox people say that if girls are in a love relationship with someone, these kinds of rape incidents will happen to them.
Late-night outing: They say that if a girl is roaming outside at late night, these girls invite boys to them rape them.
Intoxicating substances: The conventional thinkers believe that if girls go outside and consume materials like alcohol and drugs and smoke cigarettes, then these incidences will happen.
Small clothes: The orthodox people think that if girls follow the Western culture and wear small clothes and go outside wearing them, they provoke boys to molest them and misbehave them. If the girl is modelling, she is provoking the boys.
Right of Husband: According to the orthodox people, the wife is the property of a husband. Thus, whenever he wants, he can have sexual intercourse irrespective of the point of consent.
Sexual Urge: They think that the boys are young. They have the urge for sexual feelings, so sometimes, when they see girls, it becomes difficult for them to control, and they molest and rape the girls.
Place: If the girls are going to and fro for educational purposes, travelling alone, or doing business, then people say that if girls go outside and wander here and there, their safety is at stake. If the girl is raped by a human-like monster, people will say that why did the girl go to that place and this place. None will say anything about the boy.
Time: If the girl is going outside late at night or half night and anything wrong happens with that girl, people will say what was the point of going outside so late. There is the fault of the girl.
Friend circle: If a girl has friends and some of them are boys and if anything wrong happens, people will say that a boy and a girl cannot be friends anymore. If a girl has a friend who is a boy, then these types of girls are characterless. So, it is obvious that such types of incidents will happen with them.

(ii) Actual reasons: Now, let's move towards the understanding of the actual reasons for the occurrence of such disgraceful and heinous crime in the following manner:

Objectification of women: People consider that a girl or a woman is an object to use to satisfy their sexual organs. Rapists think that the girl is wearing short dresses because she wants to show her body to boys and invite them to have sex with her.
Dominance\power\ego: In various cases, it has been seen that to render dominance and power to girls or society as a whole, men try to establish control on women, which leads to sexual violence. This can be seen in the form of martial rape, weaponisation of rape during wartime and while torturing a particular race or community, such as the Rape by the Pakistani army in Bangladesh in 1971 to stop their protest of a separate nation, Sexual assaults by the Myanmar army on Rohingya Muslims to flee them away from their country.
Failure of Judicial Machinery: The Judicial procedure in our country is that much slow that it gives incentives to ill-minded people to rape. As they know that even if the rape accusation is proven, they have the option to file a petition in higher courts, and the judicial procedure is so slow that it will take a long to be heard.
Failure of Administration: Rape cases are declared it is also the failure of the administration because there are very less number of police officers in such a huge population. As per a study, India has 153 police officers per 100,000 people, which should have been at least as per the suggested number 196. This is also below the United Nations minimum requirement of 222 police officers per 100,000 people. Apart from this, while investigating a rape case, police make a lot of mistakes and carelessness, which lead to the eradication of various pieces of evidence, which make the case very weak. Often we hear that people demand CBI investigation for rape and murder-like matters because people don't believe in the police.
Social system: In Indian society, it has been seen that boys and girls are kept away from each other's encounters. Due to least interaction between boys and girls generate misconceptions about their issues, discomfort in conversation and feelings of awkwardness in face-to-face conversation.
Negative Cinematic impact: I strongly don't believe in the concept that films are made for entertainment purposes. Films have a great impact on the general masses. Therefore, actors and actresses are highly popular among people. Indian cinema and also in various cinemas around the world often show actresses as an object to lure people. Therefore, it has been observed that sometimes, at least one full song is kept in the movie to entice people through the physical beauty of the girl, which is called an item song. The frame of the camera often zooms on the private parts of the girl to entice viewers. In addition to this, there are so many dialogues in the movie which are objectionable. Sometimes, the lyrics of the songs are disgraceful and objectify women. All these things are done by the hero of the movies, which creates a perception in the mind of the boys that if the hero of the movie is doing that and everyone likes him and the heroine is impressed by it, then why can't I do that? If I do the same the girl will also like it. The actresses don't deny to perform even if they don't want to do that because if they refuse to do that they may be thrown out of the film. There was a famous actor of the 1980s who played the role of antagonist in more than 300 films, and his name is Ranjeet. Once, he mentioned that to attract the attention of the viewers, producers used to keep rape scenes in the films. Sometimes rape scene was not required at all, but producers used to keep rape scenes in the film. This is the way how cinema creates a negative impact on the minds of youngsters, and this promotes toxic masculinity.
Low education level: The people are less educated, and therefore, they don't have any ethical or moral values or respectable opinions towards women. They are less educated and do not have too much work to do. So, they wander to and fro and molest the girls who are going and walking on the streets and keep their evil eyes on them.
Patriarchal Mindset\Orthodox Mindset: The Patriarchal mindset is one of the reasons why rapes are occurring in the country and across the world.
No concept of Marital Rape: There are a total of 32 countries across the world which don't consider marital rape. In a recent case in Chhattisgarh, the state High Court said that sexual intercourse between a husband and wife, even if without the wife’s consent, is not rape. In India, under section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), forced intercourse in marriages is considered to be a crime only if the wife is below the age of 18.
Rape culture: A rapist wants to pacify his anger, evil desire and sadism through rape. And it becomes possible through rape culture. Rape culture connotes those activities of mass media, cinema, societal conceptions and traditions which normalize and trivialize rape. For instance, Objectification of women in films and society, Abuse in friend circles and Abuse in stand-up comedy, etc.
Exposure to Pornography: Nowadays, everyone has a mobile with the facilitation of the internet. The negative activities do not take assistance to spread; similarly, now everyone is aware of pornography due to so much exposure to it on the internet. And Porn videos exponentially increase sexual emotions and distort the mentality of boys\men towards girls\women. It leads to the rupture of familial relations as well.

Thus, these are the reasons why we see the occurrence of this very type of heinous crime in our society and across the world.

WEAPONISATION OF RAPE IN WAR ZONE

You may have heard about various types of advanced guns, rifles, pistols, missiles, submarines, aircraft carriers, fighter aircraft, atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, biological weapons, chemical weapons and so on. Sometimes, humans become so ruthless that they do something which even animals cannot think of doing. They become so desperate to kill their counterparts that they even forget the bit of humanity and human consciousness. They weaponise the rape of women to make them afraid of their counterparts or to show the domination and power of their cruelty. The army forces were made to fight against the armed forces of the enemy and not to the weaponisation of women. Weaponisation of rape

is an old military strategy used to destroy a community. Rape is not only confined to society; it is also used on the battlefields. It shows how cruel the men are and what position women have in their minds. Shameless, Eww! There are some following instances where cruelty can be observed against women:

In October 1947, in the Baramulla Massacre, when the Pakistani army and Pakistani militants onslaught in Jammy and Kashmir, for several days and nights, they looted and plundered Hindus and Sikhs in the entire Baramulla district. On the morning of 27 October, hundreds of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim women were raped and abducted, and many were carried away to Rawalpindi, Peshawar and other towns of Pakistan.
During the end of the 1960s and till the end of the 1971 war against Pakistani, Pakistani soldiers and the Razakar paramilitary force raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women and girls in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape to mentally torture the whole community and suppress the demand for a separate nation. Most of the rape victims of the Pakistani Army and its allies were Hindu women.
Upto 60,000 Bosnian women were raped by Serbian forces in the camps between 1992 to 1995.
In Rwanda, an estimated 5 Lakh were raped during the genocide in 1994.
And more than 60,000 women were raped during the civil war in Sierra Leone between 1991 to 2002.
At least 7,000 Yazidi women have been raped by Daesh in Northern Iraq since 2014.
In many previous conflicts, like in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Iraq, Sudan, Chechnya, Nigeria and Afghanistan, millions of others were also tortured and raped.
Against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, the UN describes their situation as a 'textbook example of ethnic cleansing'. And a recent report reveals how Rohingya women are being systematically raped by Myanmar soldiers to flee them away from the Rakhine State, so the Myanmar army can get access to the coastal area.
There are cases where Russian troops were allegedly accused of doing sexual assault on Ukrainian women. And there are videos of those women who told about that incident on news channels.
On the 7th of October 2023, when a militant group in Palestine assaulted Israel and killed hundreds of people and abducted various girls\women and raped them, denuded them. Hamas militants filmed their videos and uploaded them on the internet.

Thus, these were the instances where weaponisation of rape was done in abundance and the political and military war of men; the non-participated wing of girls\women are assaulted and raped. Women pay in the form of getting herself raped for being a woman. She has to pay value for being a woman. She pays because she can procreate.

INCIDENTS OF RAPE IN INDIA AND ACROSS THE WORLD

I'm in awe, having known about these cases, which have shaken me from the inside because I cannot believe how a human can be so inhumane. How can a person\persons rape a girl so brutally? How people? How? I want you people to look at the names of the cases given below and put your glance at these cases and study them. There is one thing for which I am damn sure that is you will not be able to utter a single word. You will not be able to believe and shall say that can it happen either? Alas!

Cases in India

Mathura Rape Case 1972
Ajmer Rape Case 1992
Priyadarshini Motto Rape Case 1996
Vishakha Rape Case 1997
Bilkis Bano Rape Case 2002
Nirbhaya Rape Case 2012
Kathuwa Rape Case 2018
Hyderabad Rape Case 2019
Hathras Rape Case 2020
Manipur Rape Case 2023
Kolkata Rape Case 2024

Cases in the rest of the world

If you are thinking that rape is stuck only to India, don't live in imagination. Please get out of it. You'll be shocked to know about the cases which have happened around the world. I have mentioned below two cases, but I couldn't muster the courage to delineate those cases because I don't dare to write in words about such pathetic and mind and heart-wrenching cases. I, however, urge the readers to read about case two given below case particularly the first one:

Junko Furuta Case 1988 to 1989
Anna Case 1980 (revenge taken by her mother Marianne Bachmeier)

STEPS TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT

The government never took stiff measures to improve the security concerns of females until any major incident took place. Even though the government took some measures to improve the socio-economic conditions of women, they could not prove successful in ensuring the security of them. Despite that, there were some steps which were taken by the government to strengthen the security status of women in the country. These are given in the following manner:

1. Reforms due to Mathura Rape Case:

The Mathura rape case led to some major changes in various acts because the victim could not get justice even from the decision of the Supreme Court. That led to huge outrage by people, and the government brought some changes.

So let's see them in the following manner:

The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1983: This act emphasized victim protection and consent, and added Section 376(2) to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to punish rape by a person in authority.
Section 376 of the IPC: The IPC's Section 376 was amended to include new sections, such as 376(A), 376(B), and 376(C), to punish custodial rape.
Prohibition on victim identity disclosure: This provision protects the identity of the victim.

2. Vishakha Guidelines, 1997:

The Vishakha Guidelines are a set of guidelines that were established by the Supreme Court of India to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. They were declared by the Supreme Court in 1997 and were superseded in 2013 by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act.

3. POSCO Act, 2012:

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was passed in 2012 to address sexual crimes against children in India. It is a very good initiative which

4. Nirbhaya Criminal Laws, 2013:

Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013, also known as the Nirbhaya Act, was passed in response to the gang rape and murder of a girl in December 2012. The Act made several changes to the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, and the Criminal Procedure Code.

5. Bhartiya Nayay Sanhita, 2023:

BNS, 2023 replaced IPC,1860, which was a criminal act of the 19th century. BNS, 2023 was the need for the justice system because of the complexity of the cases and issues. As far as rape cases are concerned, this act deals with sections 63 to 73. In BNS, there is section 65, which is in discourse cause of its unique feature. That is, if anyone promises to do a marriage and maintains a sexual relationship but later on refuses to marry the same girl; the person will be put behind bars for 10 years.

MEASURES OUGHT TO BE TAKEN

Measures are nothing but dissolving all the causes of any issue. The same principle is needed to be followed here as well. As simple as, however, it seems, it is just the opposite of that. If this issue had been so simple and easy to solve, it would have been solved a little early. Then why is it not being solved? The answer is a firm will at all levels and resistance against change. Despite that, we need to bring reforms in all the fields where it is necessary to bring reforms. Therefore, let's put our proper concern over these reforms:

Social Reforms:

It is the biggest cause of this issue. The first and foremost reform needs to be brought in this field concerning societal perspective to observe and imbibe the things associated with girls' lives. Under this, first of all, the orthodox and irrelevant thought process needs to be changed. By putting forth so many logics and statistics, we can make people understand the sensitivity of this issue. We need to understand the point that it is not the fault of the girls what they are wearing, where they are going, what they are consuming when they are coming back home, where they are going and with whom they are befriending. If the girls are doing these things, it does not give license to boys to comment on them, molest them and rape them. Boys should be taught how to properly behave with girls. How to respect them, how to treat them, how to politely deny for something. Over the top, when a girl is saying No it means No. In a film called PINK, the character of Amitabh Bachchan says that No is not the word; it is a complete sentence in itself. Thus, general awareness is very much needed to be generated amongst the general masses.

Police Reforms:

The police force is responsible for maintaining law and order within the nation. It is the force which administers within the state boundary. In India, the population is so high that the proportion of police officers per 1,00,000 people. Apart from this, there are so many faults in the police system which make the rape cases vulnerable, which lead to distrust in the people not filing cases. And when it comes to registering cases of rape, people don't go to the police station and get the case registered there because they know that if they file the case, irrelevant types of questions will be asked to the girl only. Sometimes even FIR is not filed early until the protest commences by people. And the investigation and enquiry skills are not up to the mark. As per the latest report of NCRB, There is a distressing surge of 4% in crimes against women in India throughout 2022. This includes cases of cruelty by husbands and relatives, abductions, assaults, and rapes. This discloses the failure of the police system. These are the issues that need to be solved by the police.

Judicial Reforms:

There are lakhs of cases which are pending in India about various issues and not only rape. Due to the pending issue, the results of cases have been pending for several hours. Certain steps need to be taken in this direction, such as there being a separate wing to hear such cases at each level of the judiciary. There should be fast-track courts which should ensure speedy trial of the rape cases.

Legislative Reforms:

The legislature needs to bring such laws which assist the victim financially to fight the case, and protection should be provided to her and her family until the trial of the case is going on. The compensation should be provided to the victim and her family by the state government. The POSCO Act and other acts about sexual assaults need to be strengthened more and more. As per the severity of the rape cases, the punishment should be either only life imprisonment or capital punishment. Furthermore, the whole world needs to take some severe steps to withhold such cases. Apart from societal change, the world needs to give excruciating pain to the rapists to kill him or them because brutal cases are being heard, like Nirbhaya Case, Hyderabad Case, and Kolkata Case, which are extremely heart-wrenching.

Cinematic Reforms:

First of all, cinema-related personalities need to stop unequal behaviour with female co-workers and actresses. The name of the stuff called Item Song needs to be changed. The objectification of women must not happen. The dialogue in the movie should not be vulgar. The position of the actress should not be subordinate to the lead actor. Feminist movies need to be made such as Damini and Lajja.

Administrative decisions:

The district administration and police administration need to keep checking control over incidences like molestation and misconduct with girls and women particularly at intersections of the city. District administration should take some initiatives to make the environment congenial for women so that they are freely roam in the city or anywhere without considering the matter of time. Central and State governments must completely ban porn websites in India by instructing search engines like Google and Mozilla Firebox.

Empowering women:

Empowerment of women is a necessary step which must be taken to improve the socio-economic conditions of them. The government of India has taken steps to improve their condition by providing them space in the form of reservation in political space, such as 33% reservation in the elections of local government, and from the next Lok Sabha Polls, 33% of Lok Sabha will be reserved for females, only. This is a necessary step which was taken by the government.

Spiritual upliftment:

This is one of the prime solutions from which we can eradicate the maximum problems of the world, whether it is concerned with the environment, self-love, women empowerment, spirituality, terrorism, atrocities on women and endless other topics. We need to connect with spirituality, and it can be possible by staying in good harmony and reading classical texts such as Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, etc the greatest literature of various languages and so on.

CONCLUSION

The simple thing I want to ask to the boys\men that how much is it remaining to break down for a girl\woman? Enough is enough. Till then will she keep on weeping? To solve this issue, a holistic approach needs to be taken to solve this heinous crime. Efforts should be taken from all sides, and the greatest contribution to this will be from society, the police and the judiciary. Until these three pillars come and put in their greatest efforts, things cannot be solved.

"There is no timestamp on trauma. There isn't a formula that you can insert yourself into to get from horror to healed. Be patient. Take up space. Let your journey be the balm." - Dawn Serra

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