Crimes against women: India
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Conviction rate
Maharashtra among worst 10 in conviction rates
Atul Thakur, TNN | Aug 24, 2013
MUMBAI: The conviction rate for crimes against women in India is depressingly low, but Maharashtra's record is even more abysmal than the national average. In cases of rape, for instance, Maharashtra's conviction rate of 16.1% is about two-thirds of the 24.2% that the country averages.
For rape
The conviction rate for rape among the bigger states ranges between 10% and 16% for Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal while it is lower than 10% in Jammu & Kashmir. All other major states fare better than Maharashtra.
Several studies, in India and abroad have revealed that a majority of sex criminals are repeat offenders . A 2010 news report mentions a study by Swarnchetan, an NGO dealing with rape cases, which showed that nearly 70% of rape accused inmates in jails were repeat offenders. That is a telling statistic on just what the cost of a low conviction rate can be.
By type of crime
A look at data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that Maharashtra ranks among the 10 worst states in terms of conviction rates for most offences against women. These include insulting the modesty of woman, dowry deaths and cruelty by husbands or their relatives.
Barely one in every 11 person, chargesheeted for assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty gets convicted in Maharashtra . The national average is almost one in four. Among the bigger states, only Gujarat , Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir have a poorer record on this count.
In cases of insult to the modesty of a woman, nearly 95% of those accused walk free after trial in Maharashtra . Again, only Assam, Bihar and Karnataka among the major states fare worse. The all-India average conviction rate under this offence is 36.9%.
When it comes to offences under IPC section 498A, which deals with cruelty by a husband or his relatives, not even one in every 50 accused gets convicted in Maharashtra . This is just a little over one-tenth the national average of 15%. Maharashtra's 16.9% conviction rate for dowry deaths is also close to half the national average of 32.3%.
Of course, this is not to suggest that the rest of the country is doing a wonderful job of punishing those accused of crimes against women. The national average of conviction rates for IPC crimes against women is just 21.3%, which means almost four out of five accused walk free. It is also much lower than the 38.5% overall conviction rate for all IPC crimes.
The Justice Verma Committee, constituted to recommend amendments in criminal law to speed up trails in cases dealing with sexual offences against woman, also noted the abysmally low conviction rates for crimes committed against woman. The report observed that even today the victimized woman, rather than the rapist, is put to trial.
Conviction rate vis-a-vis the party ruling the state
No party has made it safer for women
Subodh Varma | TIG
See also the chart titled For the year 2012 , which is on this page.
over the past years there’s been growing protest at spiralling violence against women. All registered crimes against women went up by 70% between 2001 and 2012, rape increasing by 55%, assault with intent ‘to outrage modesty’ rising 32%, dowry deaths by 20% and cruelty by husbands and relatives by 117%. This is the tip of the iceberg because a very large number of crimes against women go unreported.
But what’s the record of political parties in curbing crime against women?
At the states’ level, the picture is revealing and puts paid to the tall claims made in manifestoes. In BJP- ruled Gujarat, MP and Chhattisgarh conviction rates for rape are lower than the national average which is already very low. In Gujarat, conviction rate dips to just 15%. In assault with intent to rape cases MP and Chhattisgarh do better than the national average but in Gujarat conviction rate is 2%. In cruelty by husband cases too, Gujarat has a 4% conviction rate compared to 15% at the national level and 56% in MP. Clearly, the BJP-ruled states are not doing much to punish the guilty. BJP has been ruling these states for over a decade.
In Congres-ruled states things are slightly better. Taking three of them as examples, conviction rates are worse than the national averages in Assam and Maharashtra. In Haryana they’re about the same for rape and assault, although much lower for cruelty. In these states Congres has been ruling for a decade or more.
Surprisingly UP has better conviction rates than most big states. They are two to three times the national rate. Apart from UP, other states ruled by non-Congres, non-BJP parties show trends similar to BJP or Congres-ruled states. TN has low conviction rates for rape but in the other two crimes it performs better.
Conviction rate vis-a-vis the party ruling the state
No party has made it safer for women
Subodh Varma | TIG
over the past years there’s been growing protest at spiralling violence against women. All registered crimes against women went up by 70% between 2001 and 2012, rape increasing by 55%, assault with intent ‘to outrage modesty’ rising 32%, dowry deaths by 20% and cruelty by husbands and relatives by 117%. This is the tip of the iceberg because a very large number of crimes against women go unreported.
But what’s the record of political parties in curbing crime against women?
At the states’ level, the picture is revealing and puts paid to the tall claims made in manifestoes. In BJP- ruled Gujarat, MP and Chhattisgarh conviction rates for rape are lower than the national average which is already very low. In Gujarat, conviction rate dips to just 15%. In assault with intent to rape cases MP and Chhattisgarh do better than the national average but in Gujarat conviction rate is 2%. In cruelty by husband cases too, Gujarat has a 4% conviction rate compared to 15% at the national level and 56% in MP. Clearly, the BJP-ruled states are not doing much to punish the guilty. BJP has been ruling these states for over a decade.
In Congres-ruled states things are slightly better. Taking three of them as examples, conviction rates are worse than the national averages in Assam and Maharashtra. In Haryana they’re about the same for rape and assault, although much lower for cruelty. In these states Congres has been ruling for a decade or more.
Surprisingly UP has better conviction rates than most big states. They are two to three times the national rate. Apart from UP, other states ruled by non-Congres, non-BJP parties show trends similar to BJP or Congres-ruled states. TN has low conviction rates for rape but in the other two crimes it performs better.
For all crimes: 2015
The Times of India
While violence against women is becoming a major concern, the conviction rate for gender crimes is extremely low. In 2015, around three-fourths of the people accused of committing crimes against women were acquitted by courts.
Also see graphic.
Domestic violence
Domestic violence makes up 1/3 of crimes against women
Arun Dev, TNN | May 29, 2013
BANGALORE: Women in Karnataka are as unsafe inside their homes as outside, in the big bad world. In case of Bangalore, though, the situation is marginally better.
Statistics with the Karnataka police show that one-third of the cases of violence against women take place within the confines of their home. The corresponding figure for the state capital is slightly above 25%.
In 2012, of the 10,789 cases of crime against women in Karnataka, 3,688 cases (34%) were reported from within their homes. In Bangalore city, of the 1,993 cases of crime against women, 524 were incidents of domestic abuse, filed specifically under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code - violence by spouse or relatives. Domestic violence is the single largest category in crime against women.
Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of cases booked against women. But domestic violence cases, as a percentage of overall crime against women, has not changed much. Of the 7,698 cases of violence against women reported in 2008, 2,638 cases (34%) were of violence by family members.
According to a senior police officer, the official statistics do not give a complete picture of domestic violence in the state, as most such cases go unreported. "In such a situation, we are helpless. We can't force someone to file a police complaint," says the officer.
SOCIETY STILL TRADITIONAL
Society's outlook is still unchanged and doesn't support a woman who goes against her husband and files a case of domestic violence, points out Dr Shaibya Saldanha of the NGO Enfold Trust. "There are many women who are doing well in the corporate sector, but wouldn't report domestic violence fearing social norms," she added.
In the past decade, the criminality of domestic violence has been acknowledged. However, there is no visible reduction in the number of instances of domestic violence. "What we've seen is that many women prefer going to a third party than the police. Considering this number, the magnitude of domestic violence must be big," says Dona Fernandez, founder of Vimochana, The Forum for Women's Rights.
The admission of activists and police that many instances of domestic violence go unreported, flies in the face of those raising a hue and cry about the misuse of the anti-domestic violence law by women seeking vengeance.
Dona agrees there have been incidents of abuse, but they are very few. "There should be a change in perspective. Recently, a judge announced that rape laws were being misused. Almost every law in the country is misused, but remarks are made in the open only about sensitive laws. Even if there is a small number of cases of misuse of the law, we shouldn't forget there are many cases where this law has saved the lives of many women," she adds.
Dowry deaths
Dowry deaths: One woman dies every hour
PTI | Sep 1, 2013
NEW DELHI: One woman dies every hour due to dowry related reasons on an average in the country, which has seen a steady rise in such cases between 2007 and 2011, according to official data.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures state that 8,233 dowry deaths were reported in 2012 from various states. The statistics work out to one death per hour.
The number of deaths under this category of crime against women were 8,618 in 2011 but the overall conviction rate was 35.8 per cent, slightly above the 32 per cent conviction rate recorded in the latest data for 2012.
The number of dowry deaths in the country has seen a steady growth during the period between 2007 and 2011. While in 2007, 8,093 such deaths were reported, the numbers rose to 8,172 and 8,383 in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
In 2010, 8,391 such deaths were reported, according to the NCRB.
The agency is the central nodal department to collect and process crime statistics at the national level.
Suman Nalwa, additional deputy commissioner of Delhi Police (Special Unit for Women and Children), said the problem is not only limited to the lower or middle class.
"Higher socio-economic strata is equally involved in such practices. Even the highly educated class of our society do not say no to dowry. It runs deep into our social system," she said.
The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, prohibits the request, payment or acceptance of a dowry, "as consideration for the marriage" and dowry here is defined as a gift demanded or given as a pre-condition for a marriage.
"The existing law has certain loopholes and needs to be made stricter. Despite the amendments made to the Dowry Act in 1983, good results are still desired to be achieved," Nalwa said.
However, Kamini Jaiswal, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, says improper investigations by the police at the initial stage of a case slow down the process of judicial proceedings.
"We need quick conviction in such cases. Our judicial procedure has become very slow, police does not record a case at initial stage," she said.
Evidence
Accused can be convicted if victim testimony trustworthy: SC
SC: Corroboration Not Mandatory Unless Serious Infirmities Exist’
Holding that a “socially sensitised judge“ offers a better and more effective statutory armour than penal provisions to deal with cases of crime against women, the Supreme Court has said that the corroboration of a victim's statement is not mandatory .
An accused can be convicted if the victim's testimony is “natural and trustworthy“ and does not suffer from serious infirmities, Justice R Banumathi, who was part of the bench that upheld the death sentence for the Nirbhaya rape-murder convicts, said in her verdict in the brutal case that shook the nation.
The court has asked judges to be sensitive during trials for rape cases, and keep in mind the testimony of a survivor, as “no self-respecting woman will put her honour at stake by making false allegations of sexual offences against herself “. “(The) Persisting notion that the testimony of the victim has to be corroborated by other evidence must be removed. To equate a rape victim to an accomplice is to add insult to womanhood. Ours is a conservative society and not a permissive society . Ordinarily , a woman, more so, a young woman, will not stake (sic) her reputation by levelling a false charge concerning her chasti ty,“ Justice Banumathi said.
She said the corroboration of a rape survivor's testimony was not a requirement of law and only a rule of prudence, and courts should not insist on it.
“There is no rule of law that the testimony of the prosecutrix cannot be acted upon without corroboration in material particulars. She stands at a higher pedestal than an injured witness,“ she said, adding, “However, if the court of facts finds it difficult to accept the version of the prosecutrix on its face value, it may search for evidence, direct or circumstantial, which would lend assurance to her testimony.“
“A socially sensitised judge, in our opinion, is a better statutory armour in cases of crime against women than long clauses of penal provisions, containing complex exceptions and provisos,“ she said while referring to an earlier verdict of the apex court. The judge said courts should deal with rape cases sensitively, examining “the broader probabilities of a case and it should not be swayed by minor contradictions and discrepancies“ of witnesses.
It is now well settled that conviction for rape can be based on the testimony of the prosecutrix corroborated by medical evidence and other circumstantial evidence.
Reporting of crime
Delhi vis-à-vis Mumbai
The Times of India, April 26, 2016
Just 1 of 13 gender crimes reported in Delhi
Rajshekhar Jha
Worries about getting stuck in prolonged investigation and litigation and fear of retaliation deter women from going to the police in cases of crimes against them. Not surprisingly , only one of every 13 incidents of gender crimes reaches the police stations in Delhi, while it is only slight better in Mumbai, where one of nine cases is reported to the police, says a study carried out by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). The situation is as dismal when overall crime is considered, with the study , titled Crime Victimisation and Safety Perception, finding that only half of all offences are ever reported, and of these only half are eventually registered as FIRs.
In terms of sexual harassment cases, none of the six reported in Delhi and only two of the five cases in Mumbai led to an FIR being filed.
In Delhi, 1 in 11 cases of all criminal events involved sexual harassment, compared with 1in 25 in Mumbai. Of the sexual harassment cases, 94% in Delhi comprised staring or passing of lewd comments. It was worse in Mumbai, however, with almost a quarter of the cases involving indecent touching or groping or being followed by men.
Among the seven overall crime categories studied by CHRI, theft was at the top in Delhi, while sexual harassment placed second at just over 9% of all crimes.
Physical assaults, logging just under 9%, constituted the third most common offence in Delhi.
Two-thirds of the cases of physical violence in the capital and four-fifths of those in Mumbai involved grabbing, shoving, slapping or beating.Attacks with dangerous objects, including guns and knives, accounted for over 11% of the cases in Delhi and just under 10% in Mumbai.
As seems to be the case in many countries, CHRI's survey corroborates the fact that most criminal events go unreported. Overall, 53.2% of crime cases identified by the survey in Delhi and 58.2% in Mumbai were not reported.The primary reason for people not reporting these incidents is due to fear of being caught in bureaucratic police and court systems.
While these trends are consistent among all kinds of crime, some reasons for not reporting are more emphasised in certain classes of criminal activity. For example, of the 80 households in Delhi that experienced sexual ha rassment, 74 of them did not go to the police for help. Of these, 52 said they did not want to get stuck in prolonged police and court matters. In Mumbai, there were 45 cases of sexual harassment, 40 of them unreported. In 26 cases, the victims avoided police intervention for fear of retaliation by the perpetrators.
Overall, in both Delhi and Mumbai, seven in 10 households visited a police station to report a crime. In both citi es, for two of the most common offences -theft, including break-ins, and assault -over two-thirds of households that experienced these crimes approached the police.Overall, nearly half of those who reported crime in Delhi used a helpline, including police helpline 100. By comparison, just under a quarter of those in Mumbai took recourse to phone assistance.
Taking all crimes together, in both cities less than half of the cases reported to the police by the respondents ended up with the registration of an FIR. Given that only half of all crimes experienced were reported in the first place, this means only a quarter of the criminal incidents were registered.
See also
Rapes in India<> Rapes in India: court verdicts <> Rape definitions unique to India<> Rapes in India: the legal position after 2013<> <>Rapes in India: Compensation and help for survivors <> Rapes in India: annual statistics
Crimes against women: India
