People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 44
November 04, 2012
|
Vol. XXXVI
No. 44 November 04, 2012 |
ANTI-WOMEN
CRIMES ON UPSWING
CPI(M)
Protestors Accuse Enforcement Agencies
ON
October 30, 2012, several hundred
activists of the
The
dharna was addressed by CPI(M) general
secretary Prakash Karat, its
Prakash
Karat pointed to the big increase
in the cases of rapes and sexual violence against women
throughout the country
in the recent past. Children and young women have been the
biggest victims.
Governments throughout the country have not only failed to
tackle these cases;
in many instances the administration, police and state
machinery actually
ensure that the victim is not even able to lodge a complaint.
There is thus an
urgent need of an effective law against sexual harassment.
However, successive
central governments have failed to enact any such legislation.
The CPI(M) would
continue to mount pressure on the UPA government to ensure
that such a bill is
enacted in the winter session of the parliament, Karat added.
He, however, stressed
that laws alone would not be enough to curb violence against
women. Simultaneously,
there is an urgent need to combat the retrograde and
anti-women values that pervade
our society.
ANTI-WOMAN
CRIME
ON
AN INCREASE
Various
speakers pointed the need to take
this issue right to the level of mohallas
and ensure effective resistance to these regressive acts of
violence.
Later
a memorandum concerning the
increasing violence against women was submitted to Sushil
Kumar Shinde, the
union minister of home affairs.
Expressing
deep concern over the alarming
rise in instances of violence and heinous sexual crimes
against women and girls
in the country, the memorandum of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) said
this accretion was largely due to increasing crimes against
women in states
like West Bengal (particularly after the TMC government
assuming office),
Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and in mega cities like Delhi and
Bengaluru. This
in turn highlights the negligence of the central and state
governments towards
safety of women and girls. It also underscores the importance
of increasing accountability
and efficiency of law enforcement agencies in dealing with
such crimes.
The
report of the National Crime Record
Bureau (NCRB) shows that 2.28 lakh incidents of crimes against
women were
recorded in 2011, which was an increase of 7.1 per cent in the
one year alone.
In 2010, the recorded instances of violence against women were
4.8 per cent
more than in 2009. Thus the rate of increase of these crimes
in 2011 was 2.3
per cent more than that recorded in 2010. Within this overall
increase, the
incidents of rape increased by 9.7 per cent and kidnapping by
19.7 per cent in
the five years between 2007 and 2011.
Mega
cities like
NEGLIGENCE
OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES
A
big reason for such a sharp rise in
violence against women is that of negligence of law
enforcement agencies and
low rates of conviction that only encourage the perpetrators
of such crimes.
Delays in filing complaints and investigations are common in
most cases of
molestation and abduction, which are the fastest growing
crimes in the country.
In
2011, for instance, no investigation was
done in 36.6 per cent of the recorded instances of rape; final
investigation
reports were only filed in 20 per cent of the cases. In about
40 per cent of
the cases of abduction and kidnapping of women no action was
taken whereas the
investigations beyond the chargesheeting stage proceeded in
only 13.5 per cent
of the cases. In sexual harassment cases, investigations were
only completed in
2.8 per cent of the cases. Such delays and negligence have
resulted in low
conviction rates. Thus it is a crying shame that over 75 per
cent of the rape
accused walk free. In cases of abduction of women and
children, conviction took
place only in 3.8 per cent of the total cases in which trials
are completed. In
all, about 80 to 90 per cent cases of rape, dowry deaths,
molestation under
section 498A, abduction and kidnapping are pending in the
trial courts.
Political
protection to those accused of
crimes against women has emboldened them and others in
carrying out these
crimes. Further, no action is taken against the leaders of the
‘khap
panchayats’ who have been openly justifying ‘honour
killings.’
Various
politicians, officials and even judges
regularly try to shift blame for the violence against women on
to the victims.
The response of state governments like that of Haryana in this
context has also
been totally inadequate. In some cases known political figures
have blamed the
media for giving undue coverage to cases of rape and sexual
assault, and
brushed aside instances of crimes against women as being a
political
conspiracy. Such statements add insult to injury, demean
the victims and
are condemnable.
MINIMUM
REQUIREMENTS
In
view of such a state of affairs, the CPI(M)
has demanded that the central government take serious note of
the alarming
increase in violence and heinous sexual crimes against women
and girls in the
country. It has asked the government to ensure the following:
1)
Speedy passage of the Bill for the
Prevention of Sexual Assault in the Workplace, with amendments
suggested by the
CPI(M) members of parliament.
2)
Setting up of fast track courts to
provide speedy justice in rape and all other cases of sexual
harassment and
domestic violence.
3)
Time bound action plan by all state
governments to deal with pending cases of crimes against
women.
4)
Preventive measures by the central and
state governments to stem the increase in the rates of crimes
against women.
5)
Accountability of and punishment to the police
officials guilty of delaying the filing of an FIR.
6)
Punishment to those providing political
and social protection to the accused.
What
NCRB Report Says
*
2.28 lakh incidents of crimes against
women were recorded in 2011--- an increase of 7.1 per cent in
one year.
*
Within the overall trend of increase in
crimes against women, incidents of rape increased by 9.7 per
cent and of kidnapping
by 19.7 per cent in the five years between 2007 and 2011.
*
Sexual assaults on children under 14
years have been as high as 10 per cent of the total.
*
Big cities like
*
Neglect by law enforcement agencies and
low conviction rates encourage perpetrators of such crimes.
Delays in filing
complaints and in investigations are common.
*
In 2011, no investigation was done in
36.6 per cent of the recorded instances of rape.
*
No action was taken in about 40 per cent
of cases of abduction and kidnapping of women.
*
Over 75 per cent of the rape accused walk
free.
*
Political protection to those accused of
crimes against women has emboldened them and others in
carrying out these
crimes, e.g. in Deepika Case.
*
No action is taken against the leaders of
‘khap panchayats’ which have been openly justifying ‘honour
killings.’
*
Politicians, officials and even judges
blame the victims – dress, mobiles, loose character etc are
the usual excuses
held out. Om Prakash Chautala even argued that rapes can be
curbed by lowering the
age of marriage!
*
Response of state governments like
Haryana is totally inadequate. Similarly,
*
State and central governments are guilty
of not setting up effective mechanisms to prevent sexual
harassment at the
workplace even 14 years after the Vishakha judgement.
