SSB Lecturette Series: Crime against Women

There is no doubt that India is now on the top in the list of the developing countries .The economic rate is increasing rapidly & also the GDP rate which is 5.7 recently .On the other hand, women had to fight for over a decades to get even their basic rights, like the right to vote, though the Constitution of India gave equality to both men and women from the beginning. Unfortunately, women in this country are mostly unaware of their rights because of illiteracy and the society where she is living. Names like Kalpana Chawla: born in India, who fought her way up into NASA and was the first women to reach space, Indira Gandhi: The Iron Woman of India was the Prime Minister of the Nation, Beauty Queens like Aishwarya Rai and Susmita Sen, and Mother Teresa Who end her life supporting others for the noble cause.

Over 36000 murder case 21,000 rapes, 9600 dowry deaths and 48,000 molestation cases are the violent crimes reported in India in 2014 against women. 50% women report sexual abuse in their childhood. And, nobody does anything about it and just pushes the matter under the carpet. These are figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau recently. While Madhya Pradesh is worst off among the states, the national capital New Delhi again continues to hold the place of being the most unsafe city in India.

Nowadays most women in India work and contribute to the Indian economy in one form or another. Women plow fields and harvest crops in the villages , women now a days joins defense, weave and make handicrafts while working in household industries, women are equally participating in the MNCs. Additionally, women are also responsible for the daily household chores (e.g., cooking, fetching water, and looking after children)

There are various legislation's that have been made regarding the safeguarding of the women. Various Legislation for safeguarding crime against women, classified under two categories:

The Crime under Indian Penal Code (IPC):

i. Rape (Section 376 IPC)

ii. Kidnapping and abduction for specified purpose (Section 363-373 IPC)

iii. Homicide for dowry, Dowry death or their attempts. (Sec. 302/304-B IPC)

iv. Torture both mental and physical (Sec.498-A –IPC)

v. Sexual Harassment (Sec. 509 IPC)

vi. Importation of girls (Up to 21 years of age) (Sec. 366-B IPC)

 The Crimes under the Special and local Laws (SLL)- Gender specific laws :

i. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.

ii. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

iii. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.

iv. Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987.

Approach towards safety of women:

1. To increase reporting of rape and assault cases:

         To increase the reporting of such cases the very first step is that we need to encourage them to come forward to register the cases, as in most of the villages women's doesn't come in front to put the case. There are many violent cases but due to stigma in the society very few are reported.

2. Law enforcement agencies:

       Law enforces should be well trained to react swiftly and with sensitivity towards the women and children cases.

3. Exemplary punishment:

         Punishment of every culprit need to be strict. Campaigning of “Zero- tolerance” of sex offenders. More and more fast track court should establish by the government.

4.  Improving Indian Police system:

      Neither the Center nor States have been believed in improving the quality of Policing. Official records show that only 14 states have following the New Police Act.

5.  Giving the moral education.

         The government has to make the moral education mandatory in the syllabus which will help in knowing the moral values.

           

Conclusion:

I want to conclude that the government has to make the current laws stricter so that the every person should think twice before doing any crime against the women. Also necessary steps are to be taken by the police & NGO to aware people. Increase the rate of education, because it is the basic step to be responsible and also people have to change the mindset towards the women. 

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About the author: Sunil Sahu is an electronics and telecommunication engineer and a die heart defense aspirant. He loves cooking and has a vast knowledge about cars and their latest developments. Through this article he wants to help defense aspirants by presenting his critical views on the topic, on the forum so that collective exchange of thoughts can take place.