Delhi gangrape case: Nirbhaya, December 16 and after

The verdict of the fast track court is welcome as the four accused have been expectedly held guilty for raping the para-medical student on December 16, last year. Fifth accused died in Tihar jail while the juvenile accused was pronounced guilty and given a three-year sentence in rehabilitation/remand home.

While the verdict must be hailed for it came out in only a week to nine months’ time, it must not blind people’s vision to the spate of crime in Delhi in the past eight or nine months since the 23-year old girl was brutalized on the city road in a public vehicle and left to die. Her friend survived the incident.

Delhi continues to be an unsafe city for women. It has witnessed 239.26% rise in rape cases and 495% increase in molestation cases. This shows that there has been no improvement in this city being unsafe for women even eight months after the Nirbhaya incident.

In 2012, 433 rape cases were recorded in Delhi whereas till 15 August this year, 1,036 cases had already been registered in Delhi. Similarly, cases of molestation have witnessed a rise of 495.01%. Last year, 381 cases of molestation were registered which shot up to 2,267 in the past eight months.

The figures are telling and there is an urgent need to fix responsibility for the spate of crime against women in Delhi. The police had claimed to be enforcing a slew of measures to make the city safer for women. But, it is quite apparent that all the measures announced by the Delhi Police were taken only in files not on ground.

The measures announced by police including new women helpline numbers, creation of women help desk in police stations, establishment of all women police stations and liaison with rape crisis intervention centres have actually created confusion because there has been no coordination amongst the various cells put in place for the purpose.

There are four helpline numbers operational in the city. It is expected that a woman in trouble would choose from one among the four numbers, 100, 1096, 1091 and 181 when she is in trouble. But, if a woman is in the situation as that of the para-medical student, would she be able to make a call? If someone dials a wrong number she is asked to dial to the other number, herself.

While there is an urgent need to fix responsibility for this state of affairs, the Delhi Police lacks adequate number of personnel especially women police personnel. Women officials in Delhi Police are overworked. They have their own issues that hamper providing safety to women in the city.

Contrary to the government’s reply to Parliament on the working conditions for women police personnel in Delhi police, the women officials have no separate room to stay at night in case they work till late or are in the night-shift; they don’t get dropped home even at odd hours; women officials also complain that they do not get enough leave.

If the police personnel work under such condition, they cannot be expected to come to the rescue of a victim of any crime. Moreover, in Delhi itself, a policewoman complained of molestation and was, in turn, told to forget the incident and move over. This is nothing but a crude reminder of the gender disparity and insensitivity within the police establishment and society at large. This mindset is to be fought against alongside taking some real slew of measures ensuring speedy delivery of justice, which intrinsically calls for police and judicial reforms. Some may argue that if the latter happens, the former will definitely follow. But, till that happens, the social and media outrage against cases of crime against women must continue.

Rape Shocker: Death or Justice?

As the chorus grows for death penalty for the perpetrators of the latest gang-rape shocker from Delhi, I decided to ponder upon the subject one more time. And, this time, in the form of a write up. I have been trying to understand and analyse the state of affairs surrounding such an act. Too many things are hitting my brains and I felt, at least a couple of times, that cranium would burst as it was impossible to bear the agony (that my nerve cells carry in perhaps millions of directions within my physiological system).

The paramedical student’s is one of the most brutal cases of rape that I have come to know about. But at the same time, I am reminded of various other cases, that might not have been as violent but certainly not less damaging either in spirit or effect. I would like to mention two such cases.

In the first case, a ten month old infant girl was raped by a mid-twenty youth while in another case an octogenarian woman was forced to go through the hell by another twenty-like youth. Both these incidents occurred in Delhi. The 23-year old student was raped several times by several people and thrashed with iron rod, which was inserted inside her body damaging the most important portions of her entrails. Even if she survives, she wouldn't be able to taste solid food ever in her bruised life.

I cannot fathom of the psychological damage that this par-animist act has brought upon the aspiring physiotherapist. But, alongside, my mind also gets back to the ten-month old infant and the 82-year old woman. There plight went unnoticed. 

Understanding Rape

For many, rape is an act of sex forced upon a woman. For media, it’s news, sensational or otherwise. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as a crime, typically committed by a man, forcing another person to have sexual intercourse with the offender against her will. Is the practical meaning of rape is just a grouping of these many words? Can you have a full stop to it like that?

Rape, actually, is violation of a woman/ person. I hope, you understand and agree. Under India’s constitutional scheme, it is a violation of the right to life as guaranteed by article 21.

Legally, rape, in India, is defined as an act of penile penetration by a man of the vagina of a woman without her (valid) consent or consent obtained under threat or allurement or by deceit. (IPC section 375, after a couple of amendments and explanations forwarded by the judiciary.) Indian laws don’t have specific provisions dealing with rape of a person, who is not a woman, non-penile penetration (penetration by an object) or non-vaginal penetration (mouth). However, the present shocker points to the need for such a specific provision. The victim was raped and forced to have unnatural sex, according to police, with one or more of the offenders.

I believe, as a society, India is yet to fully comprehend rape in order to reduce the number or eliminate it (utopia) by means of laws.

Punishment

All the rape case convicts are liable for rigorous imprisonment not less than seven years and extending upto life imprisonment for period mentioned by the court. Court can award a lesser sentence, if it feels suitable. I presume that the court wouldn't come to this conclusion in the Delhi gang rape case.

Now, the clamour is getting louder for death penalty for the rapists. People have come out in thousands demanding stringent action and severest of punishment for the rapists. But, there are a few other issues that need to be looked upon and thought about. Suppose, people’s agitation on Anna model gets the government bring out a bill in Parliament providing death penalty (which would certainly come under rarest of the rare category) for the rapists, will it serve justice? Even if the bill is enacted, given the BJP's support, will it stop or reduce rape being committing on women? Answer, probably, is NO.

Prescription

Given the pace at which our justice delivery system functions, we cannot reduce the number of crimes leave alone the heinous crimes like rape. The present case would be heard by a fast track court. So, we can expect a decision in next three to four years. Then, the matter may land up in the Delhi High Court and then possibly in the Supreme Court. No one can deny the rapists, as proven even by the trial court the right to appeal in the higher courts of law. Hence, in any case when this gang rape case sees a full stop, nothing less than half-decade would have passed and the same bunch of Anna type protesters would have forgotten the case, and the same media would then be harping on the old songs to remind us of the trauma that the girl (I hope, she survives), her friend and their families suffered. Would it be a true justice done to the case or the victim even if it is a death penalty? Would the verdict be a deterrent for would-be rapists? I doubt. Leave aside the number of girls, women and infants, who may become new victims of the old crime.

Justice delayed is justice denied, goes the old saying. It is true at least in the cases of rape. More than 900 cases of rape are being heard in the Delhi High Court itself. Think about the entire nation. It is also a reflection on police’s (in)efficiency in proving or failing to prove whether an accused is guilty. So, the earnest need of the hour is the overhauling of the judiciary and the police system. Simply put, the nation needs police and judicial reforms more than anything else. At the same time, good parenting and excellent school education, especially of boys should be given the top priority. These prescriptions may sound too mild in the surcharged anti-rape environment, but no other steps would make the daughters, the sisters, the mothers, the girlfriends and wives of ours safe in years to come in this country.

But, till then all the police forces across the nation will have to take heart and lesson from the Delhi Police as to how not to overlook the regular policing so that the rules and regulations are complied by, and also how to act fast and nab the accused after such a crime has been committed. And, also till then Anna-model agitation must continue to exert pressure on the lawmakers because it is only they, who can turn the mountains of police and judiciary into wheels of justice.