January 2008 
Year 14    No.127
Gender


Violence against women

Year 2008 started on an ominous note with shocking incidents of molestation of women on New Year’s Eve in places as disparate as Mumbai, Goa, Kerala and Assam. To prevent a repeat of last year when several women were similarly molested, the Mumbai police had made special security arrangements to ensure that single men did not come anywhere close to couples at the Gateway of India this New Year’s Eve. Crimes against women are increasing alarmingly as is evident from news reports in the last fortnight alone.

A rape every 30 minutes

Rape is the fastest growing crime in the country, shows government data, even as reports of sexual crimes against Indians as well as foreign tourists continue pouring in from across the country.

The latest crime statistics, pertaining to 2006, released by the home ministry’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that every hour 18 women become victims of crime. The number of rapes a day has increased nearly 700 per cent since 1971 when such cases were first recorded by the NCRB. It has grown from seven cases a day to 53. The figure grew 5.5 per cent over the number of cases registered in 2005.

In comparison, all other crimes have grown by 300 per cent since 1953 when the NCRB started keeping records. And these are just the cases that have been reported; it is common knowledge that the number of unreported cases is far higher. There have been at least a dozen cases of molestation and rape of foreign tourists in the first couple of weeks of 2008 – the latest was reported on January 11 in which a British woman alleged that she was raped in Panaji.

Worried over the sexual assaults on tourists, which has the potential to damage the tourism industry as well as the country’s image, the centre has convened a meeting on January 24 with state governments to review their safety and security.

According to NCRB figures, among 35 cities with a population of more than a million, Delhi topped the list of crimes against women with 4,134 cases (nearly one-fifth of the total crimes against women). One-third of the total rapes in the country and a fifth of the molestations took place in the city. Hyderabad was the second most dangerous city for women with 1,755 cases.

Among the states, Andhra Pradesh had the highest number of crimes committed against women – 21,484 cases or 13 per cent of the total cases in 2006. Uttar Pradesh was a close second, with 9.9 per cent of such crimes. Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases, at 2,900, and also molestation cases.

NCRB records reveal that a total of 7,618 women were killed for dowry in 2006, an increase of 12.2 per cent over 2005.

(Hindustan Times, January 14, 2008.)

Tighter sex abuse laws in pipeline

New Delhi, January 11: The centre wants to make molestation a non-bailable offence and is taking expert advice on how to plug the legal loopholes that allow sexual offenders to escape with little or no punishment. The government particularly wants to know how it can nail those who pass lewd remarks at women – and mostly get away with it. Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury met a panel of legal experts to discuss possible amendments to the IPC (Indian Penal Code) to crack down on sexual offences, officials said.

They insisted that the move was not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the recent, widely reported spate of molestation cases across the country but was part of a larger plan to review the laws dealing with the safety of women. Physical forms of sexual harassment like molestation – as distinct from rape – are covered by Section 354 of the IPC. It refers to "outraging the modesty" of a woman by means of assault or criminal force. But it does not directly refer to lewd comments or to assault that is not "sexual in nature". Lewd remarks are covered by Section 509 but it requires the woman to prove that the accused had the intent to "insult" her "modesty". "Eve-teasing" rarely leads to punishment unless a policeman or policewoman happens to witnesses it, an official said.

"Several offenders also get away because the victim is unable to prove that the assault was sexual in nature." The government wants to see if the IPC can be amended to include a special mention of lewd comments and if the assault law can be tilted in favour of women. Offences under Section 354 now fall in the bailable category, the reason the men accused of molesting two NRI women in Mumbai on December 31 were granted bail soon after they were arrested. "We believe the offence should be made non-bailable," an official said.

The non-bailable nature of the offence is mentioned in an adjunct to the IPC that can be modified through an executive decision. The National Commission for Women had recently suggested changes to the IPC. It said the punishment for molestation must be made "comparable" to that for rape, a suggestion ministry officials do not favour. "Increasing the punishment will prove futile if we can’t catch (and convict) the guilty," an official said. Seven years is the minimum punishment handed out in most rape cases.

(The Telegraph, January 12, 2008.)

Yet another sex scandal rocks J&K

Srinagar: Kashmir is seething with anger over the mysterious death of 20-year-old Aaliya, who blew the lid off a sex scandal in the valley. The Jammu and Kashmir police have exhumed her body from the local graveyard at Soura where she was buried last month in a hush-hush manner to cover up the incident. "We have exhumed the body of Aaliya from her grave to ascertain the exact cause of her death. She had died under mysterious circumstances and it is necessary for us to know what led to her death," said Syed Afad-ul-Mujtaba, senior superintendent of police, Srinagar.

Aaliya died at her home a day after she approached an NGO, Forum against Social Evils (FASE), and exposed the misdeeds of Sahiba alias Gypsy alias Madam X who allegedly used to force Kashmiri girls into prostitution and sell them to brothels outside the state.

"On December 10, Aaliya narrated her woeful tale at a seminar organised by the Kashmir Bar Association. She was illegally confined by Sahiba in a house for 25 days. She was drugged and subjected to physical and mental abuse. Aaliya told us she gave Sahiba the slip after she came to know that she was being sold for Rs 50,000 to an outsider," said Parvez Maqbool Shah, general secretary of FASE.

On December 11, FASE approached the chief judicial magistrate’s court and was expecting Aaliya to depose before it but she did not turn up. It was later known that she had died. The role of Sahiba cannot be ruled out in her death because she wanted to destroy the evidence," said Shah. Police have arrested Sahiba under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act and the Illegal Confinement Act.

(DNA – Daily News & Analysis, January 11, 2008.)

Valley no longer safe for women

Until the birth of extremism and terrorism in the late ’80s, Kashmir valley boasted of having one of the lowest crime rates in the country. That alas is no longer true and as is often the case women are the worst victims of growing crime. A rape almost every 36 hours has left Jammu and Kashmir on the brink of another disaster. With 250 rapes and 950 molestation cases in a year, J&K is becoming one of the most unsafe states in the country.

Figures released by chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in the last assembly session reveal that 250 rape cases were registered in J&K in 2006 and 950 molestation cases were also registered in the same period. According to police figures, 142 rape cases were registered in the Kashmir valley alone in 2007. In comparison, 119 rape cases were registered in 2006 and 142 in 2005 in the valley.

"Not only crime against women but suicides, school dropout rates, are also increasing. There is now a tendency among the misguided people towards crime," said B. Srinivas, DIG (deputy inspector general), North Kashmir. "There are lots of people without face who commit such crimes nowadays in Kashmir. Particularly rapes in Kashmir have something to do with subjugation and power that a rapist wants to exercise apart from his lust," said Dr Arshid Hussain, a consultant at the Government Psychiatry Diseases Hospital, Srinagar. What has added another dimension to the whole saga is that increasing drug use among the youth too has driven them to commit rapes. "Substance abuse among youths is also responsible for the rapes," said Dr Hussain.

(DNA – Daily News & Analysis, January 14, 2008.)

Panel on anvil to curb atrocities against women in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government is tightening the noose against those who are involved in atrocities against women. According to an order of the women and child welfare department, committees will be set up at the district level to check atrocities against women and trafficking of women and children. The said committees would be headed by the superintendent of police in all districts. The state government has ordered that at least one meeting of the committees be held every month.

The committees will also review cases of atrocities on women lodged in various police stations in the past five years. Discussions would be held by these committees with the concerned government departments and NGOs to find solutions to the problem.

Action taken by the police in cases registered during the past five year period, and how many of them were disposed of, will also be analysed. Officials from the local administration, SC/ST and OBC development, panchayat and social workers will be members of the committee while a women and child development officer will be the member secretary. The district collector will nominate one woman doctor and a woman lawyer to the committees, who will find out the most affected areas where atrocities against women and trafficking of women and children are prevalent.

"Efforts will be made to involve self-help groups of women, children, the print and electronic media, for carrying out an awareness campaign in society," said an official of the Women and Child Development department. The committees will run care centres for orphans and destitute children. Health cards will be given for free treatment and medicines from government hospitals to affected women and children.

(The Pioneer, January 10, 2008.)

Having sex after false promise of marriage is rape: Court

New Delhi, January 12: Establishing a sexual relationship with a woman on a false promise of marriage amounts to rape, a court in New Delhi has held while sentencing a man to seven years in jail for sexually exploiting his neighbour. "The so-called consent under a false promise to marriage is no consent. Accordingly, the consent obtained in establishing a physical relationship like husband and wife under false promise to marry the latter is no consent as per law," Additional Sessions Judge Mahavir Singhal said.

Enumerating the difference between ‘will’ and ‘consent’, the court said that a nod for sexual relations obtained by a man on the false pretext would not amount to a ‘legal or valid’ consent to save him from punishment for rape. Even if the woman is assumed to be a willing partner in the physical relations, the fact that the accused had no intention to marry her would make it a case where consent was given under a misconception of fact, nullifying the efficacy of the nod, it observed in an order on January 9.

In the present case, convict Chhotey Lal, father of six children, had eloped with his neighbour in East Delhi on September 2, 2004 and took her to various places, including Jaipur and Chandigarh. According to the girl, the duo established sexual relations after Lal assured her that he would get married to her very soon. Meanwhile, the girl’s father got a missing report lodged with the police. Lal and the girl were detained by the police on March 3, 2005 at Sarai Kale Khan bus terminal while they returned to Delhi and the accused was prosecuted for the offences of rape after abducting the victim.

(The Indian Express, January 14, 2008.)

Husband’s acquittal can’t let off in-laws: SC

The acquittal of the husband in a dowry death case cannot be a ground for absolving the in-laws, the Supreme Court has ruled. The apex court said this while sentencing a dowry victim’s father-in-law to seven years’ imprisonment, setting aside his acquittal by the Rajasthan High Court. The high court had concluded that since the trial court had acquitted the victim’s husband, other accused, including her in-laws, cannot be convicted. However, the apex court termed that premise as erroneous and affirmed the trial court’s verdict holding the victim’s in-laws guilty of dowry death. "The high court committed serious illegality by acquitting the father-in-law on the premise that the husband had been acquitted," a bench comprising justices GP Mathur and GS Singhvi said.

The apex court said the high court ignored the most important factor – that the deceased suffered injuries in a dwelling unit belonging to her in-laws and she died in their presence due to those injuries. While setting free the victim’s father-in-law, the high court had said, "in view of the acquittal of the husband of the deceased, the other accused cannot be convicted for offence of dowry death." The high court had set aside the trial court order sentencing the victim’s father-in-law and mother-in-law to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. Giving the benefit of doubt to the husband of the dowry death victim, who was out of station on the day of the incident, the trial court had acquitted him.

(The Indian Express, January 7, 2008.)

Left in trouble after sex scandal

Agartala, January 6: Sexual harassment of a female colleague by a joint secretary in the state secretariat became a major embarrassment for the Left Front in Tripura on the eve of assembly elections, forcing the state government to constitute a second committee within a fortnight to probe the allegation.

The issue of sexual harassment came to the fore when a group of employees of the state home department assaulted joint secretary Nepal Sen on December 12 for allegedly sexually harassing a woman subordinate in his office chambers. The matter assumed political significance when the ruling CPI(M) floated a conspiracy theory behind the allegation and the opposition parties made it a political issue highlighting the government’s "anti-women" stand. They also accused the government of pursuing a dual policy as only three days earlier a subinspector of police was arrested following allegations of sexually abusing a girl at the Bishramgunj police station.

(The Asian Age, January 7, 2008.)

Films to fight girl child murder

New Delhi, January 3: Multiplexes in some of India’s richest localities may soon be showing films against female foeticide, a crime that statistics suggest is most common among the urban elite. Sources said the government was planning to produce movies against foeticide and screen them specifically in multiplexes, visited primarily by the more affluent in urban India.

The initiative is part of broader plans to target better-off Indians, the sources said.

"The aim of these films will be to sensitise multiplex audiences which are very different in character and in their choice of films from the rest of India," a senior official in the Women and Child Development ministry said. The ministry has already initiated talks with the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). The government, the sources said, would shortlist a few filmmakers to direct the movies.

Speaking to The Telegraph a week ago, the Women and Child Development minister had expressed fears of a "girl squeeze" in Indian society. "There is an increasing girl squeeze in our society. If things continue the way they are at present, soon there may be entire areas where boys don’t have enough girls to marry," she had said. The decision to screen movies indicates growing acceptance within the government that while education and financial stability might help overcome many socio-economic hurdles, foeticide continues to plague the better-off sections in India.

Prosperous states like Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat, and Delhi, have among the lowest sex ratios in the country. Within Delhi, well-to-do localities – like Defence Colony, Preet Vihar and Punjabi Bagh – have among the lowest sex ratios. Traditionally, not enough has been done to spread awareness among the elite, ministry sources said.

But gynaecologist Puneet Bedi accused the government of indulging in "page three talk, based on little understanding of the problem". "If I drive a fancy car, I will not switch to a bicycle after watching a movie. The killers of Nithari wouldn’t have stopped killing girls because of a film they saw. Initiatives like these are an insult to the seven million dead Indian girls," Bedi fumed. Bedi said the government needed to make serious efforts to enforce the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act instead of spending money simply on awareness. "In India, the law was introduced precisely because it became clear that awareness alone had failed. Female foeticide cannot be treated as a social evil which awareness can eliminate. It is a crime," he said.

(The Telegraph, January 4, 2008.)

W. Bengal tops women-trafficking list

Kolkata, January 1: Despite sustained campaigns against women-trafficking and the state government’s claims of success in dealing with such cases, West Bengal continues to top the list of states selling girls for prostitution. The latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) revealed that nearly 93 per cent of girls sold for prostitution in brothels across the states in 2006 were from West Bengal. The report comes at a time when the state government is claiming success in dealing with issues related to human trafficking.

The report also mentioned that 123 cases of "selling of girls for prostitution" were reported from various police stations in the country. West Bengal alone registered a total of 114 cases of girls being sold for prostitution in the same year, says the report. As part of its initiatives to nab persons involved in the human trafficking racket, the state police have already set up an Anti-Human Trafficking cell in the Criminal Investigation Department. According to the NCRB report for the year 2006, the number of girls being sold for prostitution has gone up rapidly in the country over the past three years.

When contacted, Mr DP Tarania, inspector-general of police, Criminal Investigation Department, said: "I’m not aware of the latest NCRB report. If it is mentioned in the report that West Bengal accounted for 92 per cent of the total cases of girls being sold for prostitution, then there is something wrong in the report."

In 2004, the NCRB had received only 19 cases of girls being sold in brothels for prostitution. The figure rose to 50 in the year 2005, registering a growth of 163 per cent. The recent NCRB report set alarm bells ringing by revealing that (the number of) girls being sold for prostitution in the country had gone up by 146 per cent during 2005-06.

(The Statesman, January 2, 2008.) 

 

Kochi, Kerala, December 31, 2007: New Year revelry takes an unpleasant turn for foreign tourists at God’s Own Country’s Fort Kochi beach as many women tourists complain of sexual harassment. Some youngsters allegedly misbehaved with the teenaged daughter of a Swedish tourist.

Mumbai, Maharashtra, January 1, 2008: A mob of 70-80 men grope and molest two young women for some 15 minutes on a busy main street in Juhu early on New Year’s day. HT photographers Satish Bate and Prasad Gori capture the horror on camera.

Utorda beach, Goa, January 8: The owner of a beach shack at Utorda beach in South Goa is accused of outraging the modesty of a 27-year-old Russian woman holidaying in the area. The man was arrested and released on bail a few days later.

Pushkar, Rajasthan, January 9, 2008: A 28-year-old US tourist is allegedly molested by a priest in front of the Papmochni temple on the banks of Pushkar lake. The priest is later arrested. On the same day, a British journalist alleges that she was raped by the owner of a guest house in Udaipur.

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, January 9, 2008: Two teenaged girls from Canada, holidaying in the Backwater Resort of Kumarakom, are allegedly molested by a member of the security staff at the hotel.

Panaji, Goa, January 11: A 32-year-old British woman was allegedly taken to the outskirts of the city and raped by an unknown individual. The Goa police promise swift action to identify and nab the culprit.

 


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