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India's struggles with high rape cases, low conviction rates

A woman attends a vigil condemning the rape and murder of a trainee medic at a government-run hospital in Kolkata. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW DELHI - The rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata last week has brought women onto the streets across India, furious at persistently high levels of sexual violence despite legal reforms and promised crackdowns.

The government brought in sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, including tougher sentences, after the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman aboard a New Delhi bus in 2012.

But campaigners say little has changed.

Below are some details of the scale of the crisis and the challenges ahead.

Numbers high

Around the time of the 2012 attack, police were recording up to 25,000 rape cases a year across India, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Since then, the annual number has largely remained above 30,000, barring the Covid-19 pandemic year of 2020, which saw a sharp fall.

Attacks peaked at nearly 39,000 in 2016. In 2018, on average, one woman reported a rape every 15 minutes across the country, according to a government report.

There were more than 31,000 reported rapes in 2022, the latest year for which data is available.

The numbers have stayed persistently high, even as the authorities ramped up the penalties, including a minimum sentence of 10 years with a possible extension to life - or the death penalty if the victim is younger than 12.

Other legal reforms have included widening the definition of rape to include non-penetrative acts, bringing in fast-track courts and reducing the age threshold so 16-year-olds can be tried as adults for such offences.

Senior criminal lawyer Rebecca M. John, who has represented many rape victims, says some rapists still believe they can get away with their crime.

"One of the factors would be the absence of fear of the law," she told Reuters.

"There is no consistent application of the law, that's one aspect. There is very poor policing, that's another aspect."

Convictions low

Conviction rates for rape ranged from 27 per cent to 28 per cent from 2018-2022, according to NCRB data.

Over much of that time, that was second lowest rate out of five serious crimes, also including murder, kidnapping, rioting and causing grievous hurt.

The lawyer, Ms John, said some judges had become more reluctant to convict since the tougher sentences came in.

"If a judge feels that there is some doubt and he's pushing somebody away for life without remission, or maybe even death, on evidence which doesn't stand up to judicial scrutiny, not entirely at least, then he's compelled to acquit," she said.

"Whereas, if he had some discretion in the matter, he could have lowered the sentence, ensure that he's convicted."

Major cases since 2012

A number of highly publicised cases have kept the crisis in the headlines since 2013.

In 2018, a 26-year-old man in central India was sentenced to death three weeks after his arrest on charges of rape and murder of a baby girl.

In 2019, police officers shot dead four men suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian near southern city of Hyderabad. The men had been in police custody and officers said they were shot dead near the scene of the crime where they tried to snatch the weapons of accompanying policemen.

The 2020 gang-rape of a 19-year-old girl in northern India's Hathras district and her death weeks later in a hospital triggered nationwide outrage. REUTERS

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Mitwah

Parents and colleagues of Kolkata doctor who was raped and killed inside RG Kar Government Medical College and Hospital earlier this month have hinted at a larger conspiracy against the victim, Times Of India reported. This as CBI continues its probe into the gruesome rape-murder that has shocked entire country and sparked nationwide protests by doctors. Watch the video for more.

Mitwah

RG Kar Medical College & Hospital rape & murder incident | Counsel for victim's family Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya highly criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and levelled serious charges against her. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said, "The role of CM in the state of West Bengal is very condemnable. Wherever there is rape she wants to immediately get into contact with the victim's family, pay them money and say everything is over. Unfortunately, she has fixed a rate card for the rape victims...She attempts to purchase the witnesses..."

Mitwah

The rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata last week has brought women onto the streets across India, furious at persistently high levels of sexual violence despite legal reforms and promised crackdowns.

NUMBERS HIGH

Around the time of the 2012 attack, police were recording up to 25,000 rape cases a year across India, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).


Since then, the annual number has largely remained above 30,000, barring the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020, which saw a sharp fall.

Attacks peaked at nearly 39,000 in 2016. In 2018, on average one woman reported a rape every 15 minutes across the country, according to a government report.

There were more than 31,000 reported rapes in 2022, the latest year for which data is available.

Senior criminal lawyer Rebecca M. John, who has represented many rape victims, says some rapists still believe they can get away with their crime.

"One of the factors would be the absence of fear of the law," she told Reuters.

"There is no consistent application of the law, that's one aspect. There is very poor policing, that's another aspect."


CONVICTIONS LOW

Conviction rates for rape ranged between 27%-28% from 2018-2022, according to NCRB data.
Over much of that time, that was second lowest rate out of five serious crimes, also including murder, kidnapping, rioting and causing grievous hurt.

The lawyer, John, said some judges had become more reluctant to convict since the tougher sentences came in.

"If a judge feels that there is some doubt and he's pushing somebody away for life without remission, or maybe even death, on evidence which doesn't stand up to judicial scrutiny, not entirely at least, then he's compelled to acquit," she said.

"Whereas if he had some discretion in the matter, he could have lowered the sentence, ensure that he's convicted."


MAJOR CASES SINCE 2012

A number of highly publicised cases have kept the crisis in the headlines since 2013.


In 2018 a 26-year-old man in central India was sentenced to death three weeks after his arrest on charges of rape and murder of a baby girl.

In 2019, police officers shot dead four men suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian near southern city of Hyderabad. The men had been in police custody and officers said they were shot dead near the scene of the crime where they tried to snatch the weapons of accompanying policemen.

The 2020 gang-rape of a 19-year-old girl in northern India's Hathras district and her death weeks later in a hospital triggered nationwide outrage.



Mitwah

Sanjay Roy, the accused in the hospital crime, was captured on CCTV entering the emergency building at 4 a.m. and leaving 40 minutes later without his Bluetooth device, later found near the victim. Linked to his cellphone, the device tied him to the crime. Roy, with a history of violence against women, had consumed alcohol before the act.

Mitwah

In the latest episode of Blueprint Explosive Exclusive, Madhavdas GK discusses Undeniable Testimony On Tape In Kolkata Horror. Kolkata's postgraduate trainee doctor, who was allegedly raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was cremated in a hurry, her father claimed while expressing dissatisfaction with the West Bengal government's handling of the incident. β€œThere were three bodies at the crematorium, but our daughter's body was cremated first. The Chief Minister is talking about providing justice, but attempts are being…not satisfied with Mamata Banerjee and have refused to take any compensation,” he said.

Mitwah
Last edited by Mitwah

The rape and murder of a doctor in India is fuelling outrage



Allahabad Medical Association [AMA) and Resident doctors of SRN Hospital hold candles and walk in a protest rally agains

THERE WERE nearly 32,000 rapes reported in India in 2022, the latest year for which data are publicly available, according to the national crime records bureau. That number hugely understates how common sexual violence is in the country. Most incidents are never reported. Those that are rarely make the news.

Once in a while a particularly gruesome case leads to national outrage. So it went in 2012, when a 23-year-old student was gang-raped on a bus in Delhi before being left for dead by the side of the road. She later died of her injuries. Or in 2020, when a 19-year-old Dalit farmworker was gang-raped in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, allegedly by a group of upper-caste men from her village. She, too, died.

And so it has been over the past couple of weeks, following the rape and murder on August 9th of a 31-year-old trainee doctor during her night shift in a hospital in Kolkata, the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal. Women across the country have taken to the streets demanding safety from violence and equality at work and in public life. Doctors have gone on strike for better working conditions. The outrage is important, says Vrinda Grover, a lawyer and activist: β€œIt says this is wrong, and we as a society won’t condone this violence.”

Yet outrage has done little in recent years to improve the lives of Indian women. The number of reported rapes in the country was higher in 2022 than a decade before. That may be due to greater willingness to report such crimes, but it is hardly a sign that the risk of falling victim to one has been reduced. Public spaces still belong firmly to men, with women expected to keep themselves safe when they venture beyond the confines of home (which is often hardly safe, either).

One reason is that the government is not enforcing its own laws. The case in Kolkata, for instance, might have been prevented if the doctor had had access to a safe resting space, as is already required by India’s workplace safety rules. And while high-profile cases such as the one in 2012 have been fast-tracked through special tribunals, the legal process for most victims remains painfully slow and unpromising, with only about a quarter of cases that go to trial resulting in a conviction.

Meanwhile, violence against women is still widely considered acceptable. Nearly half of Indians surveyed by the government between 2019 and 2021, men and women both, said that a husband was sometimes justified in beating his wife for offences such as β€œdisrespecting” his parents or going out without asking his permission. Marital rape is not a crime.

Narendra Modi, the prime minister, alluded to the problem of violence against women in his Independence Day speech on August 15th, without specifically mentioning the case in Kolkata. His main recommendation was to β€œinstil fear” through harsher punishments. Rekha Sharma, chairwoman of the National Commission for Women under Mr Modi’s previous government, blamed the government of West Bengal, which is led by an opposition party. She has previously said that highlighting the problem of sexual violence was akin to β€œdefaming” the country. India is hardly alone in needing to tackle violence against women. But politicians remain unserious about curbing it.

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Mitwah

The idiot Rekha Sharma, chairwoman of the National Commission for Women under Mr Modi’s previous government, blamed the government of West Bengal, which is led by an opposition party. She has previously said that highlighting the problem of sexual violence was akin to β€œdefaming” the country. India is hardly alone in needing to tackle violence against women. But politicians remain unserious about curbing it.

Mitwah

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