The brutal rape of a 23 year old paramedical student in a moving bus in the national capital by 6 men including a minor on Dec 16, 2012 led to a series of protests, the likes of which were not seen even during the earlier phase of the ‘people’s struggle’ led by Anna Hazare and party. Though the usual hangers on and various others with affiliations to student unions joined in, those who led from the front were young citizens who braved water cannons in the Delhi winter. For days, they made sure that their anger was heard in the nation’s most high profile security covered areas. This was unprecedented in a country where young people were thought of as being aloof from the socio-political arena and their activism seen only on social networking sites. When the girl passed away in far away Singapore where she had been taken for further treatment, the clamor for stronger laws to protect women from violence and stringent punishment for violators on one side and the continuous protests over the Delhi case including the media spotlight made the Government to set up a three-member panel led by Justice Verma to put forth its recommendations on tougher laws for crimes against women. The groundswell of emotions along with debates pointing out loopholes in the legal and judicial framework of the country regarding cases of violence against women have also put political groups on the same page when it comes to looking at tougher laws in the country.
The Justice Verma Committee has now come up with a 630 page report that has called for amending criminal laws to provide for more stringent punishment to rapists, including those belonging to police and public servants. With Lok Sabha elections set in 2014 and all political parties keen to proclaim their ‘strong stand’ on protecting women and ensuring their safety, it is most likely that when Parliament discuss on the Verma Committee findings which have been drawn from suggestions put forth by women groups and other social activists a majority of recommendations would be cemented as law. While the recommendations for the general safety of women in the country was largely expected, the areas touching upon the sexual violence being perpetuated in ‘conflict areas’ is note worthy and if accepted and acted upon, will be a validation that women in the country are equal citizens. Its view that that the “impunity of systematic sexual violence is being legitimised by the armed forces special powers act” gives hope for the women in areas where the Act is in place and who have bore the brunt of army excesses in the form of brutal assault, molestation, rape and torture. While another Committee report headed by Justice Jeevan Reddy remains to be ignored, the Justice Verma report has gone ahead to say, “There is an imminent need to review the continuance of the AFSPA and AFSPA-like legal protocols in internal conflict areas as soon as possible. This is necessary for determining the propriety of resorting to this legislation in the area(s) concerned.”
In a country where the statistics of rape incidence is supposed to be one rape for every 22 minutes it has never been uncommon to hear about rape cases, about victims of rape being harassed and the accused being let off, about cases not being taken up by the police the December case of the 23 student stood out partly because of its brutality and in an area in the heart of Delhi. No other rape case has evoked such a kind of response as it happened with this particular case even with the same amount of media scrutiny. Yet, another brutal case of violence failed to evoke much interest or action. When the body of Thangjam Manorama, alleged be a member of an armed group was found with tell tale sings of being brutally raped and tortured to death after being picked up by personnel of the 17 AR in July 2004, it made only local news headlines. The media buzz only came in when 12 women disrobed themselves. Near to a decade after the incident, the security personnel who took Manorama in their custody are yet to be tried in a court of law because of the impunity that is given to security forces under the garb of national security. Justice delayed is justice denied and activists in the state now need to ensure that the plight of women in this deeply militarized state is made known, debated and acted upon.
