With Case Of Pune Minor's Gangrape, Here's Looking At India Rape Statistics

India Rape Statistics: We hit a new low with every rape case in India. As per latest reports, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly abducted by a group of men from the Pune Railway Station and then taken to multiple locations in the city and gangraped by different men.

The police have made eight arrests in the case and are currently probing the case. The teenager's harrowing sexual assault makes one ask, how effectively is the law and order functioning in India if the cases of rapes are at an all-time high?

Lately, many cases of sexual assault have had survivors closely connected with their abusers. The recent Sanchore rape case comes to mind which reported that a minor girl was allegedly raped by her father on multiple occasions.

It only came to light when an audio clip describing the incidents went viral in the area. Disturbed by the horrible plight of the girl, her brother died jumped in the nearby canal and ended his life. Read more here.

Sexual Crimes Committed Against Women By Familiar Culprits:

As per the National Crime Records Bureau, out of the 32,033 rape cases reported from all states and Union Territories in India, over 94% of the survivors knew their abusers. Over 30,165 cases were reported in 2019 in which the offenders were known to the survivors. 2,916 of them involved a family member, 10,938 offenders were either survivor's neighbours, employers or friends.

Sex offenders who were online friends, separated husbands, Live-in partners made 16,311 of the rape cases. Women in India are often cautioned about stepping out but aren't they equally vulnerable inside their homes? Can women be expected to trust people at all?

Harrowing Numbers On Child Sexual Abuse:

In 2019, a total of 4977 children below the age of 18 were reportedly raped in India. 144 of them were below the age of six. The most targeted age group was between 16 and 18 years with 2757 rape cases.

The alleged abduction and rape of the minor in Pune is the latest case in which a child, someone who was not wise enough to even try to protect themselves was brutally assaulted. Another case of the Dalit girl in Delhi's Old Nangal area comes to mind. The 9-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a group of men in a crematorium before she was cremated without her parents' consent. What can we do to ensure that children are protected in this country?

Unreported Rapes/Offenders Who Were Husbands

After analysis of the National Family Health Survey of 2015-16, LiveMint reported that over 99.1% of cases of rape go unreported in India. In most of such cases, the accused persons were the husbands of the survivors. The same report states that a woman is 17 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted by her husband compared to others. And yet, neither the legal system of India nor the government is ready to bring marital rape laws. Just because a woman marries a man, the man has every right to ignore her consent? Is that what marriages are supposed to be?

Caste Based Sexual Violence

The NCRB data of 2019 shows that 10 Dalit women were raped every day in India. According to another report, over 100 million young Dalit women are subjected to sexual violence at the hands of the so-called Upper Caste men.

3,486 Dalit women were raped in 2019 according to NCRB. There is no way we can assume that India is not crippling under the caste hierarchy prevalent in our society. And out of all the members of disadvantaged communities, the women in those communities are suffering the most.

The Disappointing Conviction Rate: 

Even when the reported cases were considered, the NCRB data stated that out of the 32,033 rape cases, only 30% of the accused persons got convicted. One can raise a point that not all rape cases have convicts but is it really possible that more than half of the rape cases reported in 2019 did not have a culprit?

With new incidents of brutal sexual assault making it to newspapers, it seems difficult that the women in India are even close to feeling safe. After gathering all the courage to report the crime, survivors have seen their abusers get away with the help of money, power and position. Is the system really catering to Indian women? If the state has amended laws and fast-tracked so many rape trials, where are we lacking in the justice department? Are men in India ever going to respect women?