Whither equal justice?

Two Rapes, Two Verdicts

You reap what you sow. This adage rang true as the Supreme Court last week confirmed the death sentence for four convicts in the brutal Nirbhaya case wherein a 23-year-old paramedical student was gang raped on a moving bus on 16 December 2012 in Delhi. Said the three-judge Bench: “It created a tsunami of shock…devastated social trust, falling in the 'rarest of rare' category warranting the death penalty.” Indeed, the wheel of justice had turned a full circle.

Paradoxically, justice did not fully prevail in the identical Bilkis Bano case of 2002 whereby the pregnant 19-year old was gang raped during the Godhra riots and 14 family members murdered including her three-year old daughter. The Bombay High Court sentenced 11 to life imprisonment but refused CBI’s appeal of death penalty for three.

Raising a moot point: Are we really angry about the amount and impunity of sexual violence or do we applaud a judgment because of random public attention? Should the outcome of a rape case depend on the vagaries of public outcry? And should not all victims of sexual violence have equal claims to justice?

Sadly, in a culture where the national narrative conditions people to think that rape has no consequences; where violence has been unleashed by an imbalanced sex ratio; and where women have little or no cultural respect, 37,000 reported rapes per year is not shocking, or even surprising. It is just par for the course.

Crimes against women have more than doubled over ten years according to the National Crime Records Bureau’s latest data. Appallingly, four rapes occur every minute, 26 crimes every hour or one complaint every two minutes. There were over 470,556 molestation cases, 315,074 kidnappings followed by rape 243,051, insult to modesty 104,151, dowry death 80,833 and 66% women experienced sexual harassment between two and five times during 2015.

How bad the situation is can be gauged from Capital Delhi which accounts for over 17% of the total number of rape cases. An increase from 706 in 2012 to 2199 in 2016. Yet ironically the conviction rate has dropped dramatically. In 2012, the police secured a 49.25% conviction, falling to 35.69% in 2013, 34.5% in 2014 and last year a mere 29.37%. All this, despite many reforms post Nirbhaya and six fast-track courts to handle rape cases.

One explanation for this is the skewed sex ratio. Like China, India has a massive sex ratio imbalance. According to the census, the sex ratio in the 0-6 age group has risen from 102.4 males per 100 females in 1961 to 108.9 in 2011. In Modi’s Gujarat, the ratio is 112 boys to 100 girls.

Sociologists call this Bare Branches phenomenon wherein boys are culturally preferred over girls consequently it gives rise to increasing female feticide. Add to this, one gets nothing or little from the courts. Disgustingly there are very few rapists who are convicted. Conveniently forgetting that justice delayed (often indefinitely) is justice denied.

Perhaps it has something to do with our patriarchal lineage and misogynistic culture. A culture that believes that the worst aspect of rape is the defilement of the victim, who will no longer be able to find a man to marry her — and that the only solution is to marry the rapist. Thereby, rendering all measures ineffective.

Shockingly, instead of being apologetic and ensuring that cities are safe for the fairer sex, ex-Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit asserted, “Girls should not wear jeans and exposing clothes. They have no business driving around at 2 am in the morning,” in reference to a woman journalist’s rape.

Or Karnataka’s Home Minister blamed “western culture” averring “these things do happen”. Really? Added another, “The more skin women show it is like if there's gasoline, there will be fire. If there's spilt sugar, ants will gravitate towards it.” Disgusting, to say the least. To Samajwadi’s Mulayam, ‘boys will be boys”. Sic.

Alas, in an era when political image is branded like detergents, trust our netas whose only recourse to women safety is mouthing empty rhetoric, completely disregarding the fact that they have collectively miserably failed time and again in making our cities and environment safe for women. By strengthening policing laws and tightening rules which would deter men to think thousand times before they commit a rape or molest a woman.

True, subsequent to the Justice Verma Committee’s recommendations post the Nirbhaya case, the new law has stringently defined rape. But has it deterred men to think thousand times before they molest a woman? Certainly not. Specially against the backdrop s that women are on their own vis-à-vis their safety.

There is currently no special law against sexual assault or harassment and only vaginal penetration counts as rape. Those who molest a woman would be booked for “insulting or outraging the modesty of a woman” or “intruding upon her privacy”. The maximum punishment is a year's imprisonment, or a fine, or both.

What next? We need to ensure systematic education of children to make certain they will respect women. Our learning process needs to emphasise gender equality and eradicate the sick male mindset. A girl’s dress, time and place should not determine her safety. We need to change our approach to sexual harassment. Another option: radical feminism to make a social impact.

Also, sexually harassed women must speak up as it will make more people aware and come out in support thereby taking collective action. If they continue to suffer in silence, they only encourage men to continue their crime. Alongside, the right groundwork must be laid for women to work in a safe and secure work environment and an orientation session for men and women on what constitutes sexual harassment.

By Poonam I Kaushish