India has a problem with women, mainly that its laws are unfairly skewed towards men. There's very little that Indian women can really hope for if especially if they are from historically dis-empowered, communities such as the untouchables, the lowest class in the outdated Indian caste system.
On August 9, the body of a 31-year-old doctor trainee was found at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The woman had been raped and murdered.
According to details made public by courts and police, the woman who was raped and murdered was found with extensive injuries in the seminar hall of the hospital, where she was resting at the end of a 36-hour late-night shift. A police volunteer — an unpaid civilian recruited for minor policing duties — was detained in connection with the crime.
As reported by BBC, the tragic incident has again cast a spotlight on the violence against India’s doctors and nurses. Reports of doctors, regardless of gender, being assaulted by patients and their relatives have gained widespread attention. Women — who make up nearly 30% of India’s doctors and 80% of the nursing staff — are more vulnerable than their male colleagues.
The crime in the Kolkata hospital last week exposed the alarming security risks faced by the medical staff in many of India's state-run health facilities.
In research conducted by Astha Thapliyal and published in the International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, India is described as one of the most dangerous countries for women. As per the data, the Indian police filed approximately 31,677 rape cases in the year 2021.
The NCRB report shows that 96% of rapes in India are committed by someone the victim knows personally.
As noted by The Diplomat, rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight since the brutal 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus. The attack galvanized massive protests and inspired lawmakers to order the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases and stiffen penalties.
The victim, known in the media as “Nirbhaya,” a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was brutally raped by six men in the back of a moving bus in posh south Delhi. The drunken men raped her by turns, disemboweling her internal organs, leaving her bleeding and maimed on the side of the highway. She died a fortnight later. The massive public outrage, which manifested as street protests and candlelight vigils, forced the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and Parliament to enact stringent laws to punish rapists, including the death penalty in cases of gruesome rape. Public anger even brought down the Congress-led Delhi government in elections in 2013.
The rape law was amended in 2013, criminalizing stalking and voyeurism and lowering the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.
Despite stringent laws, rights activists say the government is still not doing enough to protect women and punish attackers.
In 2022, a British tourist was raped in front of her partner in Goa. Earlier this year, an Indian-American woman said she was raped at a hotel in New Delhi.
India is a deeply patriarchal and conservative society. Violence against women and girls is not uncommon. Women are expected to be homemakers and stepping out to work is frowned upon. As per the last Census, Women comprise just 11 percent of Delhi’s workforce, the lowest female workforce participation in the country, compared to 53 percent for men.
Whenever women are victims of violent crimes, questions are raised about their character and motivations for them being outside the home.
What is clear is that India needs to undergo a drastic change in its cultural attitudes toward women. Archaic views of women are outdated, and India has a lot of work to do to change these views in its society. Women should band together in rights groups and demand this change. Righteous men should join these women as well. Otherwise, India will continue to see massive waves of violence and rape against women for years to come.
Image: Pixabay
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