President Draupadi Murmu on Wednesday gave her emotional reactions regarding the heinous rate of crime against women where she said it was high time India woke up to react against “perversion” of crimes against women and challenged the mentality that women are less powerful.
Through the personalised article titled “Women’s Safety: Enough is Enough”, Prez Murmu expressed her stand on the incident that happened on August 9 at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in which a 31-year old junior doctor on duty was sexually abused and murdered brutally.
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Women safety in India
The crime against women or the violation of women rights has continued to be a menace in the Indian society, despites its attempts and strides to attain gender equality and respect for women. The recent unfortunate incident where a doctor was gang-raped and then murdered in Kolkata brings out the present state of women safety measures.
Despite the legislations that have been put in place, increase public awareness, cases of Violence Against Women continue to occur at a very high rate, evident by the annual reports from the National Crime Records Bureau. Starting with the intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and women’s property rights and ending with the dowry deaths and trafficking, the Indian women are at a threat in various forms.
As per the report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2022, gross total of 4,45,256 cases of crime against women have been reported across India in 2022 calendar year with a consecutive rise of 4% as compared to the previous year wherein an average of about 51 FIRs in an hour were registered.
Out of all the criminal offenses that involved females, 31 percent of them were constituted under the province of cruelty by husband or some other relative.
Piracy and abduction of women was captured in 19 percent of the reported cases, grievous hurt 20%, robbery accounted for 16%, assault with intent to outrage modest accounted for 18%, Rape was reported in 7 %, and sexual harassment in 7%.
Sexual violence against women was documented to have occurred with almost 39,000 cases in 2016 and in 2018 one woman was raped every 15 minutes on an average across the country.
Since 2018, 400 plus incidents of workplace sexual harassment have been reported annually, with the figure averaging at 445.
Sexual offences committed by juveniles included 86 rape cases, and 68 cases of outrage of the modesty of a woman.
Prez Murmu’s statement
Speaking on the Kolkata incident for the first time, the President said that she is “dismayed and horrified” at the incident and further said that our society requires “impartial and genuine social analysis.”
“No civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities,” President Murmu said in a hard-hitting and personalised article, titled “Women’s Safety: Enough is Enough”.
Regarding the rape incidents reported from other parts of the country, including Maharashtra, Murmu observed that the criminals were still out and about while there were huge protests in Kolkata.
She pointed out that an angered nation 12 years ago planned and schemed, and the undertakings did change the course – to some extent. There have been numerous incidents of a similar nature in the 12 years since then though few received the attention they deserved on a national level, Murmu said.
“Did we learn our lessons? While social protests diminished these incidents were pushed deep into the archives to be remembered only when another barbaric crime happens,” she said. In a broader perspective with regard to rights of women, she said that women have had to struggle to gain each and every right they have attained. Murmu also pointed out that social prejudices along with some customs and practices have always been against the growth of women rights from the very beginning.
“This is a rather deplorable mindset… This mindset sees the female as an inferior human being, weaker, less independent, less competent, less smart,” she wrote. As per her belief, the crimes against women are because of the objectification of women by some individuals.
