Rape Epidemic in India: Third anniversay of Delhi Gang Rape Case

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Even after 3 years of Nirbhaya case, women continue to face violence, say activists - The Hindu

‘No certainty of justice even after 3 years of Nirbhaya case’

Policemen stand guard at the Munirka bus stop, the place where the December 16 gang-rape victim Nirbhaya and her friend had boarded the bus, in New Delhi on Tuesday night. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

On the third anniversary of Nirbhaya gang-rape case, activists on Wednesday said that women continue to face violence in every sphere of life.
On the third anniversary of Nirbhaya gang-rape case, activists on Wednesday said that women continue to face violence in every sphere of life and that it was the certainty of justice which can bring about a change and not the severity of punishment.

“In the three years since December 2012, women continue to face violence in every space they occupy, including their own homes, public transport and at workplaces. There have been many attacks on women and girls, some accompanied by huge media coverage, but most taking place away from the public glare,” Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association said.

“We stand today in hope with millions across the country —and indeed, the world — that justice will prevail in all cases, including the December 2012 case, according to the prevailing laws of the land. We reiterate our demand for certainty of justice and not severity of punishment,” she added.

Ms. Krishnan is signatory to a statement endorsed by 108 women activists, students and faculty from DU, JNU and Ambedkar university and progressive leaders, issued on the third anniversary of the December 16 gang—rape case today.

“The government is using issue of violence against women to push through regressive policies like death penalty, or lowering the age of juvenile — even though the Justice Verma Committee carefully considered and rejected these measures as counter— productive and against the interests of victims of gender violence,” the statement said.

The 2012 Delhi gang rape case involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South Delhi. The incident took place when a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern, Jyoti Singh Pandey was beaten and gang raped in a private bus in which she was travelling with a male friend, Awindra Pratap Pandey. There were six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the girl and beat her friend. Thirteen days after the assault, she was transferred to a hospital in Singapore for emergency treatment, but died from her injuries two days later. The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was widely condemned, both in India and abroad. Subsequently, public protests against the state and central governments for failing to provide adequate security for women took place in New Delhi, where thousands of protesters clashed with security forces. Similar protests took place in major cities throughout the country. Because India does not allow the press to publicize a rape victim's name, the victim has become widely known as Nirbhaya, meaning "fearless", and her life and death have come to symbolize women's struggle to end rape and the long-held practice of blaming the victim rather than the perpetrator. All the accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused, Ram Singh, died in police custody on 11 March 2013 in the Tihar Jail. According to some published reports, the police say Ram Singh hanged himself, but defence lawyers and his family suspect he was murdered. The rest of the accused went on trial in a fast-track court; the prosecution finished presenting its evidence on 8 July 2013. The juvenile was convicted of rape and murder and given the maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment in a reform facility. On 10 September 2013, the four remaining adult defendants were found guilty of rape and murder and three days later were sentenced to death by hanging.On 13 March 2014, Delhi High Court in the death reference case and hearing appeals against the conviction by the lower Court, upheld the guilty verdict and the death sentences.

 

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Nirbhaya case: If he walks free, will the juvenile's 'punishment' act as a deterrent or an excuse? - Firstpost

Nirbhaya case: If he walks free, will the juvenile's 'punishment' act as a deterrent or an excuse?
by Sandipan Sharma Dec 16, 2015 14:11 IST

Had Nirbhaya's juvenile rapist and killer been born a few months earlier, he would have been waiting for the noose to tighten around his neck, like his co-convicts.

But, now he may walk out after just three years in a reformatory, with a sewing machine as a farewell gift.

Watching him walk out free just because of an ill-timed evolutionary mishap would make many of us feel like Bhishma witnessing the disrobing of Draupadi.

Like Bhishma, who was bound to Hastinapur and its laws, we too can just wring our hands in frustration because extant laws forbid strict punishment for even the most heinous crimes committed by children below 18.

So, the 17-year-old drifter who first got drunk with his friends on a moving bus, then lured Nirbhaya and her friend into the vehicle in his sing-song voice, raped her with his five accomplices, inserted a rusted L-shaped tool to eviscerate her and then threw out the unconscious, bleeding girl to die on the road would be free to board a bus that could take him anywhere--both literally and figuratively.

And, like Bhishma and other darbaris, we would all be watching with our hands tied to the back, heads hanging in shame.
Sorry, Nirbhaya, he was just a boy.


The juvenile convicted in the 2012 gang rape of Nirbhaya in Delhi. Reuters

If events unfold according to schedule, the boy-who-can't-be-named, could walk out any time. Perhaps, he would be one of the onlookers when people gather for a candlelight march in Nirbhaya's memory on the fourth annual reminder of the ghastly incident, smirking, smiling or crying--depending on his mindset--at the memory of that night.

We do not know his name, do not recognise his face; nobody knows if he has been suitably reformed--Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi argues he should be released but believes he was not given any reformative therapy. Those keen to show him in a better light say he is an "award-winning" painter who loves to draw women in various attires and moods and cook when he is in the mood.

But, we also know that he never confessed to his crime, obviating thus, any need for regret and repentance. And since nobody would be watching him--it would be illegal, isn't it?--we would be at the mercy of his conscience. Hopefully, he found one in the reformatory.

There is, of course, the possibility that we would all be proved wrong and the boy who raped and killed would go on to become a responsible, reliable adult, ready to be invited home, picked as a groom by somebody courageous enough to ignore his past. Those who watched him in the reformatory believe he fears god, that he fasts during a religious festival. May be now he fears the law too.

It is true that laws can't be changed for individuals. Just because Nirbhaya's rapist is getting away with mild punishment, the criminal justice system can't be subjected to reactionary, post-facto overhaul. God forbid, if tomorrow a 14-year-old commits a similar crime, we wouldn't be shouting silly for turning Tihar into a crèche.

Yet, as Maneka Gandhi rightly said, when the juvenile walks out free, it would imply we failed to ensure justice for Nirbhaya. "Let us not confuse justice with the law. The law said that he could only go to children home... That's the anomaly we are trying to correct. So he served his sentence and according to the law he is coming out. And there is nothing we can do about it until or unless he commits another crime. So that is all we can do," Gandhi argued recently.

Could this hand-wringing have been avoided? While convicting Afzal Guru to death for his role in the attack on Parliament, the Supreme Court had made an interesting observation: "The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties had shaken the entire nation, and the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender."

So, let us ask ourselves, a simple question: Did the punishment to the juvenile guilty of Nirbhaya's rape and murder satisfy the collective conscience of the nation? Did it deter other juveniles from committing the same crime or the mild reprimand act as an inspiration and an excuse?

Just a year later, when five persons were accused of raping a photo journalist inside Mumbai's Shakti Mills compound, one of them immediately drew attention to his juvenile status to seek leniency. Perhaps he was emboldened, not deterred, by the fate of Nirbhaya's juvenile murderer.

When we talk of justice, an old aphorism always comes to mind: Justice should not only be done but it should also be seen to be done. Often we argue that the law should not be implemented just in word, but in its spirit. And that rules are meant to protect social functions, uphold moral values and deter criminals by instilling in them fear of deserved retribution.
Much of this wisdom, however, would sound like a cruel joke when the juvenile walks out of the reformatory to begin his life afresh.

Mother names daughter who died after gang rape on Indian bus | World news | The Guardian

Mother names daughter who died after gang rape on Indian bus
Asha Singh says she has no shame in publicly naming her daughter, Jyoti Singh, who died after being attacked in Delhi three years ago


An Indian student during a demonstration to demand the death sentence for four men convicted of rape and murder of Jyoti Singh. Photograph: Mahesh Kumar A./Associated Press
AFP in New Delhi

Wednesday 16 December 2015 17.00 GMT Last modified on Wednesday 16 December 2015 17.41 GMT

The mother of the student who died after being gang-raped on a Delhi bus has publicly named her daughter for the first time, in an attempt to end the stigma facing sex attack victims in India.

The 23-year-old student, revealed to be called Jyoti Singh, died after being brutally assaulted on a bus in Delhi in 2012, triggering global outrage and protests in India over the country’s high levels of violence against women.

Rape victims are normally shunned and vilified in deeply patriarchal India and they cannot be named under national law.

“I feel no shame in naming my daughter. I say this in front of you all that her name was Jyoti Singh,” Asha Singh said at a public gathering in Delhi to mark the third anniversary of the attack. “You all must also from now onwards call her Jyoti Singh.

“There is no need for us to feel any shame. It is the perpetrators of heinous crimes who must feel ashamed of themselves,” she said to roaring applause from the audience.

Four men were convicted and given the death penalty in 2014 over the attack, which occurred after Singh was lured on board the bus, along with a male friend, following a trip to the cinema.

The supreme court has not yet heard the men’s appeals. Another attacker, who was 17 at the time, is set to be freed in coming days after serving the maximum three years, in a detention facility for juveniles.

The victim’s father on Wednesday criticised his imminent release, saying it was unclear if he had reformed during his time in the facility. “Almost every day we read about even small girls being raped. If criminals like him are let off I fear what will happen to society,” he said. He also accused politicians of lacking the will to end what he called India’s rape crisis.

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The government introduced tougher penalties for rapists and other measures after the 2012 attack, but India has repeatedly hit the headlines for a series of brutal attacks including those of children and foreign women.

Women’s rights groups have also opposed the juvenile’s release, mainly on the grounds that it was unclear if he had been rehabilitated and was ready to be reintegrated into society. “We’d like to know if he repents what he did and whether he can live amongst us in society and not be a threat,” said Ranjana Kumari, head of the Centre for Social Research thinktank in Delhi.

The National Commission of Women has also protested, saying his release would do nothing to tackle a culture of impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence. The country recorded 36,735 rape cases in 2014, with 2,096 of them in Delhi alone, although experts say those figures are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg.

 

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India recorded 36,735 rape cases in 2014; 3,000 in Delhi alone - Rising Kashmir

India recorded 36,735 reported rape cases in 2014; 3,000 in Delhi alone
Published at 17/12/2015 00:46:14 0 Comment(s)
• 93 women are raped every day: NCRB
• There is one rape in every 30 minutes
• MPs express concern over rising rapes, atrocities on women

PTI
New Delhi:
Lok Sabha MPs Wednesday stressed on strict punishment for rape, including for juveniles, as they expressed concern over rising atrocities on women, on the third anniversary of Delhi gangrape that had shook the nation.
Raising the issue during zero hour, P K Sreemathi Teacher (CPI-M) said as per the National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB), 20 major cities in India are unsafe for women and children.
According to the NCRB, as many as 93 women are raped every day and there is a gradual increase in the number of rapes reported. "In 2014, India recorded 36,735 rape cases, almost 3,000 of which were in Delhi. There is one rape in every 30 minutes. This is all official statistics. But majority of the rape cases in India are never reported especially from rural and tribal areas," she said.
Hema Malini (BJP) said the juvenile involved in the Delhi rape case should be treated as an adult and punished as an adult. "By sending him to a rehabilitation centre, it is not going to happen that he will become all right because he has a devilish mind. Even if he comes out after 30 or 40 years, he is going to do the same," she remarked. Meenakshi Lekhi (BJP) made a strong plea for lowering the juvenile age from 18 to 16 contending that age of sexual maturity has come down in the last 15 years when it was raised to 18.
Six persons including a juvenile, had brutally assaulted and raped a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. The victim had succumbed to her injuries in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012.
Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay were awarded death penalty by a trial court which was later confirmed by Delhi High Court.
Their appeals are pending before the Supreme Court. Accused Ram Singh had allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail on March 11, 2013, and proceedings against him were abated following his death.
The Centre had earlier this week asked Delhi High Court to extend the observation home stay of the juvenile convict who is scheduled to be released on Sunday, saying several mandatory aspects were missing from the post-release rehabilitation plan which needed to be considered before setting him free.