Editorial
The brutal gang-rape of an elderly Danish woman in the heart of Delhi last week and a number of rapes being committed on daily basis across the country highlights two strong facts: One, there is something wrong with administrative system of the country; Two, a part of our society is seriously sick.
After the historic public outrage on Delhi streets following the brutal 16 Dec 2012 gang-rape of a medical student, the government had set up Justice Verma Committee whose stricter guidelines and harsher punishment have already been brought into effect. But the recurrence of sexual crimes against women almost at the same regularity as before the December historic outrage and new harsher law points out the fact that we as a society and nation have not yet found out either the main reasons or the correct remedy.
Despite harsher laws, crimes against women are increasing – this clearly shows that culprits are sure they won’t be caught first; if they were they won’t be punished. They are not wrong in their belief. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, India’s only official institution on the subject, the conviction rate in rapes stands at mere 24.1% in 2012 while it was 44.3% in 1973. There is an urgent need for judicial reform to expedite such cases to punish culprits in time.
One new alarming element of the rape epidemic is that in most of the recent cases, juveniles have been found involved. The brutal face of the 16 Dec 2012 gang-rape case was also a minor. According to a report, some 1,316 juveniles were booked for rape alone in 2012. While a government body (National Commission for Women) wants to lower the juvenile age from 18 to 16 to prosecute culprit of that age as an adult if found involved in heinous crimes like rape and murder, the other body (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) is against it. Meanwhile, crimes go on uninterrupted. One of the reasons for juveniles indulging in such heinous crimes of rapes is their free access to porn websites and films. Internet has opened a floodgate of sex videos and photos. It is strange the government and society do not take it seriously. All porn websites should be blocked to save the young minds from getting corrupt.
Moreover, there is a need to include in school syllabi a subject on religion-based human values. Ours is a religious society – percentage of Indian population is follower of religion. Parents teach good values to their children. Young students should be taught moral teachings at schools also.
In most of rape cases, culprits have been found drunk while committing the crime. Alcohol, Mahatma Gandhi said, is the mother of all evils. Once he said if he got power the first thing he would ban in free India is alcohol. The government should take alcohol also as one of the main reasons behind rise in crimes.
Many a social scientist has found nude dresses of women as a factor to provoke men to commit such crimes. It is not that women in full clothes are never attacked, but it is a fact women wearing provocative dresses are more prone to the attack than others. Keeping that in mind, heads of several academic institutions in India have been suggesting some decent dress codes for their students. It is pity that women victims cry for lasting solution to the problem of sexual harassment and rapes but do not want any restriction on them to make them safer.
