Last December a 23 year old woman was gang raped on a bus in Delhi. The assault was so depraved and violent that the victim had to have part of her intestine removed, and later died from her injuries.

Six men were charged and four were sentenced to death after being found guilty. One suspect died while in custody and a sixth, who was a minor in the eyes of Indian law, received the maximum sentence possible.

The shocking case caused understandable outrage, sparking violent protests on the streets of Delhi which resulted in the law being changed to allow the death penalty.

What is more shocking is that this was not an isolated case carried out by a group of exceptionally vile men; this is quite common with remarkably similar crimes being reported with alarming regularity.

There were an estimated 25,000 reported rape cases in India last year alone. Between 1971 and 2012 the number has increase by 902%.

A 22 year old photojournalist was gang raped in Mumbai by four men who had allegedly previously raped at least four other women. They believed they would get away with the crimes because the thought the authorities would not bother to investigate just another rape case. The accused also threatened the victim, saying if she did go to the police they would post videos of the attack on the internet. Undeterred the brave victim did go to the police and the attackers were arrested.

In a separate attack just 10 days later, a 3 year old girl was allegedly raped at play school.

Her family were reluctant to report the rape at first as the accused family were said to be rungs above the victim’s family on the social ladder. Police in India often treat accusations of rape as trivial, particularly when the victim is poor.

Violence against women in India is commonplace. It starts in childhood. Gender selective abortions and female infanticide mean that males outweigh the female population massively. Worryingly high levels of child marriage, domestic violence and teen pregnancy are seen as acceptable by many. Thousands of young females disappear every year, sold into slavery or marriage (or both) while the authorities take little interest and in many cases are bought off by the perpetrators, such is the level of corruption and disrespect for females. When rapes are reported it often takes over a month before police even register the complaint and the accused are often left free to threaten the victims.

 

A recent survey in the country showed that 57% of Indian boys and 53% of Indian girls thought that wife beating was justified.

The change in the law will do little to stop these horrific crimes when the attitudes of the country’s population are so laid back about such abuse. It will take generations to change the behaviour of men and the willingness of some women to turn a blind eye or in some cases even be party to the actions of their men.

Of over 700 alleged rapes in New Delhi last year only the high profile bus gang rape ended in conviction.  

While India appears to tolerate or simply accept rape and abuse of women, it recently passed law banning homosexuality. Being homosexual was decriminalised in a landmark verdict in 2009 but the supreme courts in India overturned that verdict this week. The decision further highlights the appalling attitudes of the authorities in India.

India and its people should hang their heads in shame. They are the people who must eradicate this behaviour by educating their young, respecting females and prosecuting those guilty of the crimes. It is unacceptable for these incidents to continue and the world must put pressure on the Indian authorities and the 1.2 billion people that live there to put a stop to it.

Sadly, one year on from what the world hoped was a turning point, little or nothing seems to have been done to change it.