Communist Party protests over rise in rape cases across country

ANI

New Delhi, Oct.30 (ANI): The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Tuesday staged a protest here over the rise in the number of rape-related cases in the country. The authorities have struggled to combat rising crimes against women, including domestic violence, molestation, trafficking and rape. Just a few women in India ever report rape cases due to the lack of support, but more so the shame they face by going public. Seventeen rapes have been reported in more than a month in Haryana - a rich, agricultural region bordering New Delhi-where deep-rooted conservative and patriarchal attitudes have often been blamed for gender crimes. CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat said there is a need to change the mindset in India's male dominated society. "Whenever a rape case is reported, people say that women should remain inside their houses and there is no need for them to get out. Community groups in Haryana had said that the age of marriage should be lowered and it would prevent rapes," said Karat. Recently, some Khap Panchayat (Community groups) leaders in Haryana reacted to the rapes by demanding that the age of marriage be lowered to 15 years from 18, saying it would stop boys and girls "straying" and prevent rapes. Powerful community groups of elderly men, known as "Khap Panchayat", which unofficially govern India's rural north, are seen as propagating these views by issuing diktats from banning girls from wearing jeans and using mobile phones to sanctioning practices like child marriage and "honour killings. The spate of shocking rapes in Haryana - including several gang-rapes of girls and women from low-caste communities by upper-caste men - has hit local media headlines in recent weeks. The father of one victim committed suicide by drinking poison after perpetrators threatened to circulate a video of the rape of his daughter on their cell phones if he went to the police. Earlier this month, a mentally challenged woman was lured into a field by a man and raped. Opposition politicians have used the crimes in Haryana - a state ruled locally by Gandhi's Congress party - to criticise the government and police over inaction on rising gender violence. But some local Congress leaders have brushed off the rapes as a political conspiracy by the opposition. Karat also came down heavily on local administration and police for not tackling the sensitive issue of rape with seriousness. "We often see that police and administration do not take these matters seriously. It is very difficult to even file an FIR in the police station. There is no fair inquiry in the matter and as a result we see that 75 percent of accused are freed," said Karat. Women face a multitude of threats, from illegal abortions of female foetuses due to a preference for sons, to the murders of brides by in-laws for want of more dowry, child marriage and human trafficking. One women is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, which reported 24,206 rapes in 2011 - an almost 10 percent rise over the previous year. But gender rights activists say even those figures are a gross under-exaggeration, with most victims unwilling to report the crime out of fear it will bring dishonour on their families. Karat added that administration should be made accountable while they are dealing with rape cases. "We demand that police and administration should be made answerable and a rule should be passed that whenever there is a delay in filing a case or taking it to the court there should be an inquiry against police and administration for the delay," said Karat. Gender abuses are more common across India's conservative northern belt - which includes Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar - largely due a deep-rooted mindset that women are inferior and must be restricted to the role of homemakers. Age-old customs, such as payment of large marriage dowries to a husband's family and beliefs linking a woman's sexual behaviour to family honour, have made girls seem a burden rather than an asset, lowering their status in society. In 2011, 24,206 rape cases were reported, according to India's National Crime Records Bureau - a figure which gender rights activists say is a gross under estimation. (ANI)