New Delhi: Eight years ago when nation-wide protests were held in India to show anger after the Nirbhaya rape case on the night of 16 December, everyone thought that people's conscience has awakened after long. But, seeing the Hathras and subsequent rape cases, that thinking is proving to be so wrong.
The Hathras victim who fought for life for 15 days at the Intensive Care Unit, and later succumbed was reduced to a joke when the system cremated her in a jiffy.
How serious we are as a nation regarding the safety of our daughters is clearly shown in the data stored in the National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB).
Uttar Pradesh records most rape cases
According to the NCRB data, a total of 4,05,861 cases of crime were registered against women in the year 2019. There are 32,033 cases of rape, which means that on average 87 daughters are raped every day in the country. Out of this, 3,065 cases have been registered in Uttar Pradesh alone, which is about 10 percent of the total cases.
These statistics are the proof of how UP police is busy in providing protection to the ill-elements of the society rather than protecting the women of the state.
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When the media questioned Hathras District Collector Praveen Kumar Laxkar regarding the issue, he was seen refraining from answering.
Rajasthan second in Rape list
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Uttar Pradesh leads in crime against women with 59,853 cases, followed by Rajasthan, where 41,550 crimes were registered during a year.
Similarly, Maharashtra is at number three where 37,144 cases were registered. Rajasthan has the highest number of 5,997 rape cases and Madhya Pradesh has 2,485 cases. During the last two-three days only, there have been 18 cases of rape in Rajasthan.
Both former Rajasthan Women's Commission chairperson Suman Sharma and BJP spokesperson Ramlal Sharma termed it as shameful.
30.9% rape accused were familiar to victim
The NCRB report states that there has been a 7 percent increase in crime against women in the past year. In the year 2017, 3 lakh 59 thousand 849 cases of crime were registered against women, which increased to 3 lakh 78 thousand 236 in 2018 and in 2019 the figure reached 4 lakh 5 thousand 861.
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It is worth noting that in 30.9 per cent of cases of these crimes, the accused is a relative or acquaintance. Poonam Gupta, president of CAT's women's wing in Delhi, has appealed not to do politics in such cases.
Even during the corona period, crimes against women were on a rise.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani had told the Rajya Sabha on 22 September that 13,244 complaints of rape and child pornography have been registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal from 1 March to 18 September this year.
Despite all this, the wavering attitude of the police, administration, and governments raises questions.
