The reason why I am pressing on the topic of women’s safety is because the people of our Country need to know why the security of a woman is important in India. The Bangalore incident outraged people across the World but the bitter truth is the majority of cases end up with no punishment. Some of the shocking facts about the level of leniency given to the assaulters when such cases are registered will upset you.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, only 1 out of 100 cases was registered under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2015. Shocking yet no one did anything about it! The women of our Country are not safe because strict actions are not taken and laws if made, are never followed. Only 8,408 cases out of 82,422 cases of assault ended in a conviction, which is only 10 percent. What are the authorities of our Country doing to bring down such assault of women on streets and houses?
Maharashtra which is the third largest state by area in India encountered 11,713 assaults followed by 8,049 cases in Madhya Pradesh and 7,885 cases in Uttar Pradesh in 2015. The rise in the number of cases reported could be seen after the 2012 Nirbhaya assault incident in Delhi. Only 7 out of 154 cases under Section 509 ended in a conviction in 2015 which makes it only 5 percent of women who got justice. Under Section 509 of the IPC “Insult to the modesty of women”, 8,685 cases were registered and not more than 870 were convicted. How can we as a Nation progress on to a better future if we continue to denigrate and deride our mothers, our sisters, our friends and our wives?
The World needs to know if women in India are safe. Will this ever come to an end? Will the women of our country be safe in the future? Will the authorities take stringent action on such cases or just make laws and not abide by them?
