‘Rape’ – A heinous act:

There are several crimes committed in the society but there is one of the crimes
that is the most heinous crime that is committed in the society and that is RAPE. It
is the sexual violence takes place against women in India. It not only hurts the soul
of woman at the point of crime happening but it also hurts woman socially,
physically and mentally. After happening such incidents, the woman gets blamed
with harsh words about her character and dressing sense by the society she lives.
Their sufferings continue for a longer period of time like haunting dreams and
slowly unwillingness to live. Not only, the woman but the victim’s family have to
hear words from the society but the education of the family is also questioned by
the society. And at last in most cases, the rape victims tend to commit suicide after
the heinous act.

Rape leads to violation of human rights against women which is addressed under
Gender Based Violation (GBV). There are various forms of Gender Based Violations
like sexual violence, domestic violence, physical violence, economic violence and
emotional violence.

According to the Laws existing to prevent Rape incidents like Section 375 & 376
under Indian Penal Code; Rape is basically sexual intercourse without the consent
of women. It is in fact a violation of woman’s body, mind and soul.

Rape happens under some circumstances:

1. Against her will

2. Without her consent

3. With her consent but when her consent is under an undue influence.

4. With her consent when woman believes that the man is her husband but in
reality, he is not her husband.

5. With her consent at the time of giving such consent by the reason of
unsoundness of mind, or intoxication or other substance that she is unable
to understand the nature and consequences of the consent which she is
giving.
 6. With or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age.

According to latest statistics, number of rape incidents are increased by 12%

despite lockdown in India. There are at least five rape cases get registered everyday
in big cities like Delhi and Ahmedabad. As per National Crime Records Bureau
2015 statistics, in Madhya Pradesh has the highest raw number of rape reports
among the Indian states.

It’s unfortunate to mention but Rape or sexual violence against women happens
almost everywhere in India. Even such crimes happen in every country. In public
places like parks, shops, malls, hotels etc.; in passenger vehicles, in institutes or in
offices, at homes and in relative’s houses; Rape happens in several ways. Women
are not safe or less safe in our men dominating society. That perception has
adopted by the most parents that’s why they ask girls and women of their houses
going outside or returning from outside in late nights as they live with such fear
about the wellbeing of female members of their families. Whereas they don’t ask
male members of their families with such questions like “from where he is
coming?”, “where is going to?”.

There are several rape incidents happened in India, but one rape incident was get
noticed by all which had left most Indians with tears; that was Nirbhaya incident.
This incident was so heinously happened by six persons against a 22year old
physiotherapy intern woman and her male friend while returning from watching
movie in Saket Mall, Delhi in late night by a bus. The bus already had few men as
passenger and there was a driver and a conductor. The driver had switched off the
lights of the bus and he driver drove the bus.

As per news, they offered with cheaper fare price and later those
culprits tried to misbehave with the couple as the culprits were drunk at that time.
She tried to resist, so the culprits dragged her behind the bus and gangraped her
brutally and they did not stop the bus anywhere. They bit her brutally with the
help of iron rod. Even they bit her male friend badly. She tried best to protect her
by beating three men in self-defence but unfortunately, they overpowered on her.
was not just sexually violated, her body was mutilated beyond human imagination.
Her intestines were pulled out, and private parts mutilated by one of the rapists.
 Then the couple was thrown on the road that too half naked, and the
bus driver even tried to kill them by driving bus on them however they saved
themselves. The bus was then cleaned by rapists in order to hide the evidence. On
the other hand, the victims were taken to Safdurjung Hospital in Delhi for
treatment. Then, the case was handled by Delhi police and that too very beautifully
and with utmost care.

The male victim did not undergo any surgeries rather the male victim
was only bruised. However, the female victim was in a critical condition and she
had to undergo several surgeries but even after surgeries she was stable but in a
critical condition. In the surgeries most of her intestines were removed and for
transplantation she was referred to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

On her way to Singapore she had a cardiac arrest in the plane, so the doctor tried
best to keep her conscious and was successful however her condition was critical.
She was admitted in Mount Elizabeth Hospital and there it was stated that her
condition is critical and it is deteriorating day by day. On 29 th December she died of
multiple organ failure, internal bleeding and cardiac arrest.

This gruesome incident triggered a lot of social outrage. There were a lot of candle
light marches, solidarity movements and protests. India has always been notorious
for being unsafe for women, and this was the spark which ignited the fire of public
outrage. The outrage was not restricted to India, the whole world had formed
an opinion about India. A British documentary called “India’s Daughter” was
banned by the central government because it portrayed India in a very derogatory
and poor light.

A majority of the outrage poured out on social media. In the contemporary times,
with easy access to technology, the reactions on social media often reflect the mood
and situation in the country. The hashtags #GangRape, #Nirbhaya and so on
became “trending” on various websites. Organisations like All India Progressive
Women’s Association (AIPWA) also made its mark.

Feminist and women’s movements gained momentum and incentive. The culprits
were made an example of and condemned. Not just social, there were legal
repercussions of the incident too. The UPA government was being pressurised to
make stricter laws regarding rape and dealing with juveniles committing heinous
crimes.

Outcomes from the Protests in different States:

o The governments at the centre and various states announced several

progressive steps to ensure the safety of women in the country.

o The Government of Karnataka announced the launch of a 24/7 dedicated

helpline (1091) to help women in registering any complaint against any form
of sexual abuse.

o The setting up of fast-track courts to dispose of pending cases and provide

immediate legal aid to the victims.

o The government of Tamil Nadu also announced a 13-point action plan to

ensure the safety of women in Tamil Nadu.

o The Jammu and Kashmir government announced plans to amend the state’s
laws against sexual offences as the level of crime against women has been
upgraded these days.

o The government of Himachal Pradesh decided to set up state and district-

level committees to check the assaults committed against women in the
state.

Committee Formed for Quicker Trial and Punishments After Nirbhaya Case:
Justice Verma Committee was constituted to recommend amendments to the
Criminal Law so as to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for
criminals accused of committing sexual assault against women. The Committee
submitted its report on January 23, 2013. Some of the progressive changes
suggested by the committee are:

- Rape should be treated as a separate offence and it should not be limited

only to the penetration of the vagina, mouth or anus and its scope should be
widened. Any other non-consensual penetration whose nature is sexual
should be included in the definition of rape given under various laws.
- Marriage should not be considered as a licence to perform sexual offences.
 - Non-penetrative forms of sexual contact should be regarded as sexual
assault. The offence of sexual assault to be outlined so as to include all forms
of non-consensual or non-penetrative touching of sexual nature.
- The use of words or any act or any form of gesture that creates a threat of
sexual nature should be termed as sexual assault and be punishable for the
same.
- Domestic workers must be included within the purview of the Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal)
Bill, 2012. The complainant and the respondent should first attempt to
conciliation that makes it easy for both of them to settle the issue. The
employer should pay compensation to the woman who has suffered from
sexual harassment at the workplace in any form. The employer should
institute an internal complaints committee to which complaints should be
filed and heard.
- Acid attack should not be clubbed with the provisions of grievous hurt and
recommended that the central and state government should take some steps
to compensate victims of sexual assault.
- Requirement of sanction for prosecution of armed forces personnel should be
specifically excluded when a sexual offence is alleged. Special commissioners
should be appointed in the conflict areas to monitor and prosecute for sexual
offences against women.
- The provisions of the IPC on slavery should be amended to criminalise
trafficking.
- A Rape Crisis Cell should be set up for providing immediate notification of
the case when a FIR in relation to sexual offences is made. The Cell should
also provide legal assistance to the victims.
- It should be the duty of the police officers to assist victims of sexual offences
irrespective of the crime’s jurisdiction and anything else. The police must be
trained on how to deal with sexual offences appropriately and effectively.
- It has recommended that sex education should be imparted to children so
that they get to know if anything wrong happens to them.

As per the verdict given by the three judges’ bench at Supreme Court, it was
reported that the Bus Owner had committed suicide in the cell itself as he was
guilty during the trial of the case. The remaining four convicts were given death
sentence on 5 May 2017. And the 17year old Juvenile convict served the maximum
imprisonment of 3 years at a correction home.

The Nirbhaya gang rape was definitely the spark that ignited the fire for women’s
rights and women’s safety. But sadly, the fire was short lived. The public outrage
died in a few months, and with it, women’s issues took their usual place in the
daily agenda. Though the spark of this gruesome incident was short lived, still this
case racked many people including the government. And the govt was compelled to
make many amendments in laws regarding sexual violence against women and
made a Nirbhaya Fund of Rs.1000 Crores for tackling with such issues related with
women suffering from Rape incidents. Even pink cabs are availed for working
women.

Even on the Nirbhaya incident, there are many plays, movie and web series made.
One of the famous plays was Nirbhaya: The Edinburgh Play by Yael Farber in
December, 2013. In that play, they showed the real truth of the incident through
their stage play. A movie named “India Never Again Nirbhaya” was made in 2018
relating to the true story of Nirbhaya Incident. A Web Series “Delhi Crime” was
made to avail on OTT platform relating similar case of Nirbhaya Incident. Though
the artists tried to keep people awake about concerns of rape incidents through
these Plays, movie etc.; but people became cold on such concerns. So, many
gruesome rape incidents are still happening day by day like one of such incidents
happened in Andhra Pradesh where a dentist young woman became gang raped
and left half-burnt.

It is unfortunate to mention that the Rape incidents shall not stop from happening
until the ill-sexual mindset of men are not changed. Those ill-sexual mindset
people do Rapes for their sexual pleasure or to finish their temporary power
showing craziness over women. Even those retards do rapes of children, of
daughter like girls and of maids or of subordinates who work for their livelihood at
their houses or at their offices. They do not think how the girl or the woman goes
through much traumatic situations for long time or for her whole life.

Rape is one of the social problems and the victims suffer from physical, mental,
and emotional consequences and various other traumas which ruins their life.
Women don’t even complain about it because they think it is shameful for them
and their family also. They fear that if they get blamed for what has happened with
them what will be the consequences of it. It ruins their life and makes them
restless for the rest of their lives. It makes them lose their interest in working of the
system of our country and they don’t even think about justice as it becomes just a
word for them. Because what justice they would get except the culprits are getting
death sentence or imprisonment for several years. They can not get their own
dignity again in the society if they are not strong mentally by themselves. Though
they were not wrong in any way to get raped by those retards, still people in our
society even educated people in our society blame those rape victims on their
character, their dressing sense and their habit of socialising with people living
around them. Even they blame the rape victims’ families for their education. While
blaming they do not even think what a retard saw at a female child or kid that her
dressing sense provoked him to rape her!

Even though a rape victim gets over from her several years long trauma of the rape
incident, she can not live happily with her husband at her new family. Because
Rape is get remembered like a nightmare to her in her whole life. And even if she
and her family try a lot to help her in recovering to live a normal life, still the people
living in this society always try to hurt her and her family with harsh words and
blames on her character which break or spoil her willingness to recover from that
trauma she faced as nightmare in her past.