Nirbhaya of Delhi to Disha of Hyderabad: What we learnt in 7 years?

Thousands of toddlers, minors, teens and women have been violated between these two gruesome gang rape and murder cases in India. But the question remains, why does every heinous rape case need public protest to set the system in action? And also, why is people’s involvement limited only to protests?

As the protests continue throughout the country to ensure justice for the horrible gang rape and murder of the veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, the demand is growing for stricter laws. The legislators in the Parliament are also advocating castration to 'public hanging' and 'public lynching' of the culprits in rape cases.

There is no dispute to the fact that the law should come heavily in dealing with such heinous crimes. Here is a larger question. Will the rules written in the rule books save the girls and women?

The laws require humans for enforcement. After the Nirbhaya gang rape case in Delhi on December 16, 2012, new laws were added in the rule book to ensure speedy justice and save the girls and women from such crimes in future. However, whenever a new rape case comes into light we are informed that the rules were not followed and policy decisions are still stuck in the bulky files of the government. Besides, the top politicians are seen violating the national and international rules in blaming the victim. In Hyderabad gang rape case too, several rules were violated in handling of the case.

Zero FIR

This is a major police reform after Nirbhaya gang rape in Delhi which mandates the police officer at any police station in the country to register FIR of the rape victim irrespective of the territorial jurisdiction. There have been previous cases when Zero FIR led to action and even arrest of the culprits. In the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl by self-proclaimed godman Asaram in 2013, the Delhi police had registered Zero FIR after the victim was turned away by Jodhpur (the place of incident) and Shahjahanpur (victim's home town) police. Delhi police also initiated the inquiry, provided security to the victim's family and transferred the case to the concerned police station. However, in the case of Hyderabad gang rape, the police turned away the relatives of the victim from Shadnagar police station. They have now been suspended. In Nirbhaya case too, it was due to jurisdiction dispute among police parties the victim suffered excessive blood loss. Three police personnel were also suspended in Delhi for not taking action on a complaint of robbery committed by the same accused just before the gang rape.

Transport Rules Violated

The transport rules were also violated in both the cases. In Delhi case, the bus was operating without required permit and even hired a minor to work as assistant. Similarly, the main culprit in Hyderabad gang rape neither had a valid driving license nor required permits to operate the vehicle. Here the driver was caught by transport personnel two days back but let off.

Besides, there exists a law prohibiting petrol pump owners to sell loose petrol in bottles and containers but the culprits managed to purchase petrol which was used to burn victim's body.

In both the cases the culprits roamed on the roads after committing the crime but were not intervened. In Hyderabad, a petrol pump also reportedly alerted the police but they failed to act on time.

Leaders Continue to Blame Victims

There are enough guidelines and rules at national and international level to protect the dignity of rape victims. However, the political and religious leaders continue to blame the rape victims. 'Why had she gone out in the night?' in 2012 to 'Why she did not dial 100 number?', the questions are raised whenever any such heinous crime comes into light. Surprisingly, those blame the victims are not low profile persons but are on the top. In this case also, Telangana's Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali blamed the victim for not dialing the 100 number of police but her relatives. Why the police did not act when her sister went to the police station? The minister failed to reply.

Fast Track Courts for Rape Cases

Section 28 (1) of the POCSO Act 2012 mandates setting up of fast track courts for speedy trial of matters related to all kind of sexual offences against women. However, till recently only 18 states have come on board for the proposal. Telangana is not in the list. India presently has 664 fast track courts and proposal for setting up 1024 more such courts is still in files. However, there has been no significant progress in punishment of rape culprits as all the decisions of the fast track courts are challenged in the high courts and the Supreme Court. According to the data with Hyderabad city police, 157 rape cases were registered in 2017 and 171 in 2016 but not even a single conviction was made in these two years. The death sentence awarded to four culprits in the Nirbhaya gang rape case is still pending.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are the personal views of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)