“violence against women isn’t cultural,it’s criminal.Equality cannot come eventually,it’s something we must fight for now.”
-samantha power
Learning Outcomes
Introduction
It’s been 75 years of independence,but still there are womens who are helpless crying in the four corners of the house, Instead of asking the offender to behave in a certain way,it’s the helpless women who are asked to be in a certain way,instead of creating a home for her everywhere,she is still asked to be home at a specific time.Women after being a wealth in herself is still asked to bring wealth with her.After witnessing all these,whenever she tries to come out and speak for her and fly high,so often they cut off their wings. And ironic enough,after suffering from all these also,still it’s a women who is being suspected by the society and its the woman who in the end is looked down upon.
Crime Against Women
Crime as defined in IPC is-
“An action committed or omitted, which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law, is a crime.”[1]
United Nations defines crimes against women as-
“any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary
deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”[2]
Types Of Crimes Against Women
1).Dowry Death
A dowry death can be referred to as suicide or murder of a women who is married and have disputes over the dowry.Dowry is asked by the husband and the in-laws of the woman,and as the woman’s family is unable to pay,it burdens the woman to die.Dowry,in India is illegal,but still it’s asked in forms of gifts.Dowry was long back prohibited by law under Dowry prohibition Act 1961,but still 6,589 deaths were caused over dispute of dowry as recorded by National crime records bureau in the year of 2021.[3]
Landmark case:
[1].Kamesh Panjiyar vs State of Bihar, 2005
[2].Bachni Devi vs State of Haryana, 2011
[3].Rajinder Singh vs State of Punjab, 2015
[4].Satbir Singh & another vs State of Haryana
[5].State of H.P. v. Nikku Ram and others[9]
2).Honour Killing
When a family member is considered to having brought dishonour to the family,that individual is murdered which is known as honour killing.There were 25 cases being recorded of honour killing in India by National Crime Bureau 2020 statistics.[3]
Landmark case:
[1].Smt. Chandrapati vs state of Haryana and Ors. (2011)
[2].Shakti Vahini vs Union of India (2018)
[3]. Kartar Singh vs the state of Punjab
[4].State of Maharashtra vs Eknath Kisan Kumbharkar (2019)
3).FEMALE INFANTICIDE
When the newborn female is killed deliberately,then it is known as Female Infanticide. Parliament of India passed the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act,1994 to reduce these kinds
of crimes against women.
In these regards,the government has also introduced schemes,one of widespread scheme is beti bachao, beti padhao.[3]
Landmark Cases:
[1].Voluntary Health Association of Punjab v. Union of India[10]
[2].Centre For Enquiry Into Health And Allied Themes (CEHAT) v. Union Of India & Others[10]
[3]. Vinod Soni & Anr. v. Union of India[10]
4).Rape
Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 defines rape as penile and non-penile penetration in bodily orifices of a woman by a man, without the consent of the woman.[3]
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in India,and not only this,India is also perceived as world’s most dangerous country for sexual
violence against women.[3]
In 2021,the reported number of rapes were 31,677.[3]
Landmark cases:
[1].Rafiq Vs State of U.P.
[2].Tuka Ram And Anr Vs State of Maharashtra[9]
[3].Mukesh & Anr. Vs State for NCT of Delhi & Ors.[9]
[4].Vishaka Vs State of Rajasthan and Ors.
[5].Harpal Singh & others v. State of Himachal Pradesh
[6].Tulsidas Kanolkar v. The State of Goa
[7].Bhupinder Singh v. Union Territory of Chandigarh
[8].State of Maharashtra v. Prakash
5).Domestic violence
Domestic Violence in India typically means violence suffered by an individual at the hands of their biological relatives but specifically covers the violence suffered by women from the male members or relatives in her family. [11]
Due to this,the victim does not only physically suffer,but also suffers mentally. In 2022,domestic violence cases reported by women were 6900. According to the survey conducted by National family health survey,31% of the women suffer from domestic violence but surprisingly,only 10% of the women have shown courage and reported the same.
65% of Indian men believe women should be tolerating violence so as to keep the family together and not only this they also believe that women sometimes deserves to be beaten.[3]
Landmark cases:
[1]. Bhartiben Bipinbhai Tamboli v. State of Gujarat
[2].Lalita Toppo v. the State of Jharkhand, (2018)
[3].Inder Raj Malik v. Sunita Malik, (1986)
[4].Hiralal P. Harsora and Ors v. Kusum Narottamdas Harsora and Ors, (2016)
[5].Sandhya Wankhede v. Manoj Bhimrao Wankhede, (2011)
[6].V.D. Bhanot v. Savita Bhanot, (2012)
[7].Rajesh Kumar and others v. the State of U.P, 2017
6).Acid attack
In an acid attack, acid is thrown over someone’s face in order to cause a burn on the face.Motive is to torture, maim, disfigure, or kill the victim.
386 acid attack cases were reported in india during the time period of 2018-2022.[3]
Landmark cases:
[1].Lakshmi v. Union of India (2015)
[2]. Parivartan Kendra v. Union of India (2015)
[3]. State of Maharashtra v. Ankur Panwar (2019)
[4]. Ravinder Singh v. State of Haryana
[5]. Gulab Sahiblal Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra (1988)
7).Cyber Crime Against Women
Cybercrime can be defined as unlawful activities conducted through the internet and digital devices intending to creep into the private space of others and disturb them with objectionable content and misbehavior. [4]
With technological advancement,there is also an increase in cyber crimes against womens,Data showed that 10,730 incidents, or 20.2% of the 52,974 incidents registered in 2021, were reported as crimes against women.[5]
The types of cyber crimes committed against women are cyber blackmail, threats, cyberpornography, posting and publishing of obscene sexual content, stalking, bullying, defamation, morphing, and the establishment of fake profiles.[5]
Landmark cases:
[1].Dr. L. Prakash v. Superintendent
[2]. Karan Girotra V. State
[3].V. Ratheesh vs State Of Kerala
[4].State of Tamil Nadu vs. Suhas katti
[5].Manish Kathuria v Ritu Kohli
Recent Happenings
According to the Report of NCRB,there was 27% rise in cases related to crimes against women precisely in Haryana.[6]
According to Bihar Economic Survey,there is 13% rise in crime against women in bihar.[7]
Analysis
Looking at the data and recent happenings it is explicit that number of crimes are increasing time and again.The recent data indicated that nearly 31,000 complaints of crimes committed against women were received by the National Commission for Women (NCW) in 2022, the highest since 2014.[8]
Herein,I am mainly concerned that 31,000 is only the number of complaints made by the women after overcoming trauma,depression,fear,and they stood up for themselves.But we should also not forget that there are womens who might not be as strong,also scared of whatsays of the society,and who ultimately decides not to complaint.so,the point is that crime against women is still unfortunately prevalent deeply in India.
One thing society as a whole has to understand is that all genders are equal and deserve equal rights.
In addition to this,manier times it has been observed that the case is adjourned multiple times and is pending for years or maybe it takes so long in the process of appeals and according to me it really dissolves the meaning of justice.It should be given within due course of time or reasonable amount of time.If this is not done,victims loses the hope of justice and offender in a way are encouraged to commit crimes,which again is a reason of increasing crimes against women.
Conclusion
It is well acknowledged that there are multiple regulations that government has made through legislations,and multiple schemes to defend womens from crimes,but it is indeed very shameful for the government and citizens that in a democracy,womens are not even getting fundamental right to move freely.It’s high time that the government should look upon the root causes of the crime against women and make amendments accordingly.Introducing schemes and acts won’t help,there has to be proper and genuine implication of the same.
References
[1].central government, ”Indian penal code” ,1860, legislative department https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1860-45.pdf
[2].United Nations, ”Frequently asked questions: Types of violence against women and girls” https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/faqs
[3].wikipedia, ”violence against women india” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_women_in_India#:~:text=It%20includes%20rape %2C%20sexual%20assault,listed%20in%20Indian%20Penal%20Code.
[4].chandni wadhwani, ”cyber crime against women” ,05 september 2022 https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/cyber-crime-against-women/
[5].priti raj, “cybercrime against women”, 8th january 2023 https://www.clearias.com/cybercrime-against-women/#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20cy
[6]Manvir saini, ”Increase in crime against women worry for Hry, Pb” ,29th january 2023 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/increase-in-crime-against-women-worry-forhry-pb/articleshow/97410649.cms
[7].Faryal rumi, “13% rise in crimes against women in Bihar:ES Report” ,7th March 2023 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/13-rise-in-crimes-against-women-in-bihar-es-report/articleshow/98463177.cms
Written by
Khyati Miteshchandra Patel Institute of law, Nirma university