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Delhi Rings Out the Year by Saying: Rape & be Merry!
By Chaitali Dasgupta - 2:13 PM Friday 30 December 2005
Strange thing that fun, joy and celebration invite so many articles on safety, protection and caution! Year ending has become, not a time for contemplating all that one needs to shed and leave behind but an almost ominous warning to all that you could unleash in its wake, like violence, unsafe social scenes and of course vulnerabilities.
Not wanting to dampen the mood of endings but really the rape statistics flagged about as one of the significant statistics of 2005, make for many unsettling thoughts and questions.
Check out what the Indian Express tells us on the rape scene of the year:
- Delhi witnessed 633 rapes in 2005 (data as of December 15, 2005)- the highest number of rape cases ever in a year for an Indian metro.
-Incidents of rape have been racing upwards in the capital- 401 cases in 2001; 403 in 2002; 490 in 2003 to a height of 551 in 2004.
* 34 incidents of gang rape in 2005 as compared to 21 cases in 2004
(police records).
* Delhi Police statistics say a woman is raped every 24 hours in
Delhi.
* Only in about 20 per cent of these cases, the accused was not known to the victim.
* Over 80 per cent of the rapists were known to the victims.
* Out of every 100 rape cases in India, only 10 are reported and out
of every 100 accusations, only 5 offenders are convicted.
* Mumbai featured second with 181 cases
* Chennai reported 75 cases
* Kolkata features last with 21 cases
And we all know that these figures need to be discounted for all the women who never reported the crime. And of course it does not include numbers on molestation, sexual assault and other 'niceties' that women living in metros face on a daily basis.
In addition Delhi has lent itself to what could be only called 'fashionable' trends in rape in 2005. Gang rapes in moving cars have become commonplace at least in Delhi, attacking foreign women in parking lots and carrying them off in fancy cars, and hospital patients being attacked by ward boys, interns and doctors have all made unique headlines this year in Delhi. In addition, the well-intentioned Congress (woman Chief Minister no less) has managed to side–step the issue laudably, throwing up its hands and squawking at the police officials briefly whenever a new story comes to light. Only to be expected to take action when mightier matters are at hand such as staging a walk out of parliament on demolitions of illegal properties or when ministers are caught with their hands in the moolah jar!
It is not fashionable anymore to talk about government apathy. Personally it's boring and time wasted. And yet, isn't it kind of a political signboard we need to acknowledge- the nation's capital is facilitating a buoyant number of rapes-for heaven's sakes double the combined rates of the other three metros? So the governance( I really can't distinguish them by party-they are such a hybrid mess) is clearly saying the capital supports rape of women, facilitates new and creative ways of violating women and by the way, it's with impunity. For instance despite the fact that the nouveau rapists (including gangs) move around in fancy cars like Qualis/Esteem/Santro etc, the police is yet to find the car or the drivers/passengers. Even in the case of a foreign woman(friend of diplomat imagine) no one was arrested or discovered.
So gender rights/equality/feminism etc notwithstanding I am beginning to feel far more depressed than angry as I write this piece. The writing on the wall is so clear. Don't know how others will read this but I clearly hear the system telling me - woman either pack your bags and move elsewhere or shut-up and live in fear.
I know there are many other things which we need to talk about and highlight here. Like why are the majority of rapists known to the victim? What does that tell us about men or relationships or trust or then about sexuality? It is also a time to reiterate yet again for the young (and party going) women that they REALLY need to be careful.
But suddenly I am just not in the mood to go any further with this. I mean the century has turned and so is the year turning but hey what is really going on here??? Fifty years of strong feminist consciousness campaigns, legislative changes, India moving to political reservation for women, equality blah ..blah..blah. And here I am, a young woman, living in a city which I largely like and live in by choice, independent, financially solvent and professional, articulate and lending myself to working towards creating a better world for all. But every year the political capital of this great country of mine manages to throw one figure after another to tell me simply: hey! your safety is your own problem. No one else really cares!
Posted By Chaitali Dasgupta - 2:13 PM Friday 30 December 2005
Comments
I would like to congratulate the author on this article. However I agree it is truly depressing that no one including the womens ministry thinks of coming up with plans to respond to this crisis. So much for them. I'm glad these kinds of pieces have been put up on this blog and i hope many young people are reading them.
Posted by
About rape, I have one strong demand and I wish that all womens organisations. human rights groups should take this up on a priority basis. Next time any election comes, we should ask the MPs and MLAs, when you are not able to ensure the safety of 50% of your country's population, what right do you have to ask for our votes? All women of India must boycott elections on this ground.
Secondly, punishment for any rape whether of a minor or otherwise must be handed out within six months and it should be capital punishment. Only when there is a strong deterrence will this crime stop.
Lastly, we also should protest against the MTV culture, the vulgar music videos which only use women's bodies to sell themselves (these should be banned), the item songs in our movies - all these only propogate an image in men's minds that women are for sexual use. Frankly I am quite fed up of switching on the TV or going to see any movie because invariably there will be some nonsense of this kind being handed in the name of entertainment, whose entertainment i may ask? well of the men obviously, to the absolute dismay and embarrassment of the women around!!
Posted by
Dear Sarita and Vinita,
Vinita I agree with you that the legislation on rape should be quick and hard. As for the politicians I don't know what to say about them since many of them are themselves involved in sex scandals.
I thought I would be waking up this New Year and find for once the newspapers not narrating any incident rape or assualt. But that was not to be. Front page of TOI carries yet again four incidents of rape and sexual assault. I was not shocked or scared. I was just very distressed when I read about the incidents.
One woman was returning home after buying vegetables at 11.30 in the morning when she was picked up by her husbands friends and some other people and raped in a moving car.
Its become like the AIDS epidemic which is spreading to the general population as well.
Rape is no longer a problem that can be restricted to a certain type of lifestyle.You're out shopping for your daily grocery and you can get raped by someone you know really well.
I want to tell all the young girls/women out there that no matter what your lifestyle is.. whether you are a party going type of person or otherwise, all of you need to be careful and alert.
Lets start 2006 with this resolution.
Wishing you all a very prosperous year ahead.
Posted by
i wonder whether legislation can solve the problem...it can be a severe deterrent, agreed, but only lead to more suppressions and violences within.personally, i see perpetuators os such crimes as much as victims in evolutionary processes in consciousness...the frustrations, suppressions and many more create such violent and unfulfilled spaces within which manifest in the outer world... while definitely creating severe deterrenst, the problem has to be also addressed from a consciosuness perspective requiring healing fields...
fear and suppressions make us very violent within...which explodes in myriad directions...in a recent case in BBy where i played a counselling role, a new maid servant had poured boiling oil on an affluent mother-daughter supposedly to theive from their house..when she did it she was shell shocked...at what she had done, made no attempt to escape...
consciousness manifests are in state of acute stress and dis-ease...and need interventions such as ifsha helping out...
happy people do not go around raping or murdering or inflicting wounds...unhappiness is the most chronic ailment in society..our outer worlds are but reflections of our inner world; while addressing symptomatic manifests, one has to also address root issues...
Posted by on January 2, 2006 11:49 AM
No doubt the best way to deal with violence (in any of its manifestation) is by trying to address and understand its roots and seeking ways by which it can be healed.
The legislation definitely cannot be the sole problem solver. But it needs to wake up and get into action and provide safety to those who face violence. Many of the rapists go scot free or are never caught because of the slack/loopholes in the judiciary system and along with it the whole issue surrounding the rape. Unless and until we are able to even physically identify who these rapists are how can we understand what causes them to rape.
Posted by
i completely get you...
it gets more twisted because it really is about dealing with threat personally everyday....
most of us are so awfully acustomed to sexual threat in the public space...that it gets accepted, normal...
wish you strenght...
and for the last line in your article...do keep writing more...im sure there will be many more joining you in raising your voice..
I too am working in the area of sexual harassment in the public space...do drop by the blog
cheers!
Posted by on February 2, 2006 01:30 AM
Interesting blog Jasmeen and a very interesting project. Wishing you all the best. Thanks for dropping in.
Posted by
Dear Chaitali,
It is very nice article. Although i am reacting late but please let me know that the statistics that you have taken about rapes are from Indian Express of what date and edition.
Thanks
Lok
Posted by
Dear Lok,
It's never too late on this blog.
The statistics is from Indian Express's News Line edition dated 29th December 2005.
Posted by
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finally, the onus is on oneself, i guess and articles such as yours should be very informative for those who do not fathom the magnitude of the problem...after that a matter of their choices with an understanding of the risks involved through personal lifestyle paradigms..