Echoes from Hyderabad, Unnao: Are women, girls safe in state?

Pinki Ramaul

The rape-murder cases of Hyderabad (in Telangana) and Unnao (in Uttar Pradesh) have again evoked the sympathies of the public towards rape victims and drawn their anger towards the offenders and perpetrators of the heinous crime which culminated in the encounter, fake or otherwise, of the offenders in Hyderabad by the police and the subsequent public support for the action.

The “genuineness” of the encounter would be determined by the National Human Rights Commission and the Judiciary. But it must be acknowledged that there are no quick-fix solutions to such heinous and barbaric crimes against women. There is a need for a comprehensive movement against such crimes that include police and judicial reforms, including necessary changes in the law, but above all, broad social reforms.

The research-based analysis has to be based on reliable updated statistics. The comprehensive crime statistics, including crime against women, are released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its annual publication ‘The Crime in India’ report. But, the Crime in India report of 2017 (65th edition) was released by the NCRB on October 21, 2019, after an inexplicable delay of around 22 months. The Crime in India reports were released after an average delay of 11 months since 2000; the reports for 2010 to 2015 were released within six months. In the digital era, stale data is no data. Moreover, the NCRB does not release unit-level data and for the last two years (2016 and 2017), the NCRB has not released district-wise data, for no stated reason. Thus, the district-wise analysis of recent rape data is not possible.

The present analysis uses data basically from Crime in India report of 2017, which is supplemented by some latest data available from the HP Police. The data reveals that 1,617 cases related to crimes against women were reported in the state in 2018, the highest in the decade, up from 1,145 in 2010 and 1,260 in 2017. The rate of crime against women in 2017 was 35.7 per cent in Himachal, which is better than 88.7 per cent in Haryana, slightly better than 36.8 per cent in Uttarakhand, but worse than 34.1 per cent in Punjab. The all-India rate of crime against women was 57.9.

However, the analysis of rape statistics reveals a different picture, which is in contrast to the popular image of Himachal Pradesh. The women in Himachal are not as safe as it generally appears. While in 2010, 160 rape cases were reported in the state, the figure recently shot up to 345 rape cases in 2018 from 249 reported in 2017 thereby reflecting 28 per cent increase in the heinous rape incidents reported in one year. Up to October this year, 296 rape cases have been reported. In Crime in India Report, the year refers to the calendar year i.e. 1st January to December 31 of the relevant year.

In 2017, seven cases of murder with rape/gang rape were reported in Himachal Pradesh, which is highly unfortunate and the situation is the worst among neighbouring states. While Haryana has eight reported cases, Punjab had three and Uttarakhand had only one such case.

The total rape cases reported in Himachal in 2017 were 249, of which 143 were rape cases of women/ girls below 18 years of age, indicating the rate of rape crime at 7.1 per cent, which is much higher than the all-India rate of 5.2 per cent. The neighbouring states of Uttarakhand has a similar rape crime rate at 7.1 per cent, while Haryana had higher rate at 8.6 per cent. But Punjab had much lower rate at 3.9 per cent.

Minor girls vulnerable

In Himachal, out of the 249 reported cases of rape, 145 cases were rape cases of women/ girls below 18 years of age – seven cases of girls below six years, 18 cases of girls between 6 and 12 years, 52 cases of girls between 12 and 16 years and 68 cases of girls between 16 and 18 years. Thus, unfortunately, the rape cases of girls below 18 years of age constituted above 58 per cent of the total rape cases reported in Himachal Pradesh, which is much higher than the all-India average of 30.4 per cent. In this respect, Uttarakhand also had a high ratio of 43 per cent, but in case of Haryana and Punjab, the ratios were much lower at 12 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.

Consequently, in terms of rape of girls below 18 years, Himachal has a very high rate of 4.1 per cent as compared to the all-India rate of 1.6 per cent and is the worst performer among its neighbours, followed by Uttarakhand at 2.8 per cent. Haryana and Punjab had rate lower than all-India average at 1.1 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively. Thus, the myth of Himachal being women-friendly and girl-friendly has been severely shattered and busted.

Surprisingly, at all-India level, in 93.1 per cent of the rape cases, the offenders were known to the rape victim and a similar trend was visible in the state, where in 99.2 per cent of the rape cases, the offender was known to the victim. This reveals that the family and the supporting social systems, including Guru-Shishya parampara and the relations, have deteriorated. Thus, the government is not to be solely blamed. The entire society as a whole, have to share the blame of deteriorating situation and heinous crime against women.

Foreign tourists unsafe

Moreover, repeated rape and gang-rape incidents in Himachal with tourists, especially foreigners, have raised serious concerns about their safety in a state visited by a large number of foreign and domestic tourists each year.

In 2012, an Australian tourist was sexually assaulted, while in 2013, an American woman tourist was gang-raped by three Nepali youths. In 2016, an Israeli woman was gang-raped, while in 2018, a Japanese woman was raped by a taxi driver. Such incidents have a drastic impact on the tourism industry, not only in the state, but in the country as well. Data reveals that after the 2012 Nirbhaya Delhi gang-rape case, the arrival of foreign female tourists to India has declined up to 25 per cent.

Heinous crimes against women, including rape and gang-rape, have shaken the conscience of the entire nation and after the Nirbhaya protests, stricter laws were introduced to prevent such crimes. The key motive behind introducing harsh punishment was to create deterrence against such crimes. However, it is only possible if the trial is completed within a timeframe in court and justice is delivered expeditiously to the victims. Unfortunately, seven years since the horrific 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape, convicts are yet to be hanged despite the apex court rejecting their appeals.

To ensure speedy trial in rape cases, the Department of Justice, Government of India, has launched the scheme of setting up of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) across the country. The 1,023 FTSCs will dispose 1,66,882 cases of rape and POCSO Act that are pending in various courts of the country. The total financial outlay in the country for the scheme is Rs767.25 crore, of which Central share at 60 per cent is Rs474 crore. For each FTSC, Rs75 lakh is provided for a year. In Himachal, the pending cases of rape and POCSO Act as on March 31, 2018, were 889 and accordingly, six FTSCs are proposed to be set up in the state, of which three would be exclusive courts for the cases of POCSO Act and three would be for the cases of rape and/or POCSO Act.

The widespread echoes from Hyderabad and Unnao incidents have reignited the conscience and attention of the Himachalis towards the pending rape cases in the state, which includes the infamous Gudiya case of Shimla and other gang-rape cases in the state. There are several similarities between the Gudiya rape and murder case of Shimla and the Hyderabad rape and murder case. After widespread protests and violence in Shimla and other parts of the state, the CBI was asked to investigate the case. But the police and the CBI had followed contradictory leads in the Gudiya case. While Himachal Pradesh Police had implicated six people in the rape and murder of the young girl, including a suspect who died in custody, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) debunked the Himachal Pradesh Police investigation and claimed that this was not a gang-rape at all, but a crime committed by just one person. The CBI arrested the individual they held responsible for the crime and exonerated all those who had been arrested by the state police. A separate case of custodial death of the suspect was also registered in the case and nine police officials were arrested by the CBI, who are now out on bail and have recently been reinstated by the state government.

There are reports and allegations of politically motivated investigations and glaring loopholes in both the HP Police and CBI narratives, but the case is sub-judice and pending trial in the court. However, it is hoped that the fair trial in the Gudiya case would render justice to the innocent victim. The leaders cutting across political lines should express solidarity with the parents of Gudiya and do whatever they can to give her justice.

Some people in the state were clamouring for Hyderabad-style justice in the Gudiya case. But, just imagine, the same treatment as Hyderabad being meted out to the accused in the Gudiya case. The initial suspects have been acquitted by the CBI, they may not even have been involved in the crime. Thus, Gudiya case vividly exposes the glaring flaws in Hyderabad-style justice and aptly demonstrates why a fair trial is a must and extra-judicial killings are a real threat.

(Writer is editor of the book Violence Against Women: Varied Perspectives)

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.