The gang-rape and brutal murder of Nirbhaya in 2012 left India shocked and grieving. The whole country erupted in protest, demanding justice for the victim. India gained much global notoriety from the incident. It was not that there was no crime against women in the country in the past, rather It was that the particular inhuman incident gave common people, whose voices weren’t heard before, the courage to speak up for truth and demand justice not only for Nirbhaya but also for all rape victims in the country.
The protest was an outburst of anger, frustration, disenchantment, exasperation and all negative emotions accumulated over several helpless years as successive governments failed to ensure safety for women and many a time victimised the victims instead of protecting their rights. It also exposed the people’s increasing loss of faith in the Indian judiciary despite its many successes. Hordes of cases go unsolved while in some cases, justice is delivered after several years and even decades of hearings. But the nation-wide protest went in vain as the crime against women kept increasing.
The Unnao rape victim, who died last month after being set on fire a year after she was brutalised, made a mockery of the Nirbhaya Fund that was set up by the government of India in the aftermath of December 2012 incident for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security of women in the country. These are not isolated cases. There are lots of Nirbhayas in the country.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) “Crimes in India – 2018” report that was released a few days before the nation celebrated Girl Child Day, a total of 89,097 cases related to crime against women were registered in the country in 2018 as against 86,001 cases in 2017. Of the total cases, 10.3 per cent was rape, 31.9 percent domestic violence, 27.6 percent assault and 22.5 percent kidnapping and abduction. According to the report, Nagaland’s crime rate against women for the year 2018 stood at 7.3% with 75 cases falling under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL), which was lowest among the north-eastern states of India. Eleven such cases were rape with eight women above 18 years, and three girls less than 18 years.
The NCRB’s report has revealed that India is still not a safe place for women. Nagaland’s figure in terms of crime against women may be lower than other states, but less is not enough. Moreover, the reported cases do not reflect the true picture of gender-based crime in the state. There could be many unaccounted rape cases and hundreds of women silently bearing physical and mental torture from their abusive husbands, relatives, or acquaintances. It’s a matter of shame that India, a country that has successfully launched its Mars Orbiter Mission and is talking about its third moon mission, is not able to ensure women’s safety. Its ultimate mission should be to eliminate crime against women and humanity because economic development has no meaning without human development. Not a single soul should be deprived of living a respectful and dignified life.
