CHAPTER – III

VIOLENCE AND CRIME AGAINST

WOMEN IN INDIA

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 CHAPTER-III
VIOLENCE AND CRIME AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA
CONCEPT OF ATROCITY

Atrocity means extreme cruelty and it is the agreed form of heinousness and

the wicked acts are covered within the meaning of atrocities for these theses. The

word atrocities have taken to eighteen the inhuman acts on women in every walk

of life. And more specifically the kind of atrocities is referred to as atrocities on

women. A steep increase in atrocities against women has shown a serious impact

on women’s existence in society. To protect, women from these atrocities, greater

attention has been put by eh thinkers, reformers, and legislatures to combat the

atrocities against women in every walk of life.1

LEGAL CONCEPT OF CRUELTY:

The legal concept of atrocity has varied from time to time and from society

to society under different social and economic conditions. The objective of laws

on women was to punish the guilty party to protect and by protecting innocence.

Recently interpretations of western countries virtually amount to the acceptance of

the breakdown theory.

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VARIOUS DICTIONARIES ABOUT ATROCITIES ( CRUELTY)

Cruelty generally refers to the department of an uncivilized person, A

person willfully causes pain to another person without justification. According to

Webster's English Dictionary “Cruelty Means Barbarity, the raw, rough feeling is

the quality or condition of being cruel, inhumanity savage, barbarous disposition

or temper which is giving unnecessary pain or distress to others. A cruel and

unmindful action. French dictionary cassettes” quotes cruelty s merciless

bloodthirsty, ruthless, hard, inflexible grievances sad, bitter and painful

“Conduct”. Madness Hindu marriage Act, Explains cruelty there cannot be any

doubt that cruelty on the part of one spouse will be a reasonable excuse for the

withdrawal from his or her society within the meaning of this section 10. Cruelty

may be physical or mental the cases decided under this section and referred to

hereinafter illustrate under what circumstances the conduct would amount to

cruelty and would therefore be a reasonable excuse for the withdrawal from the

society of a spouse. 2

Lord Stowell in prem’s Judicial Dictionary refused to give any grave and

weightily and such as shown as an absolute impossibility that the duties of the

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married life can be discharged. In a state of personal danger, no duties can be

discharged, for the duties of marriage.

What merely wounds the mental feelings is in a few cases to be admitted,

where it is not accompanied by bodily injury either actual or menaced. Mere

austerity of temper, petulance of manners, rudeness of want of civil attention and

accommodation, even occasional sallies of passion if they do not threaten bodily

harm not amount to legal cruelty they are high moral offenses in the marriage state

undoubtedly, not innocent surely in any satiate of life. But still, they are to the

cruelty which the law can relieve and grant a divorce.3

Under such misconduct of either of the parties, for it may exist on one side

as well as on the other the suffering party must bear in some degree the

consequences of a judicious connection must subdue by decent resistance or by

portent conciliation and if this cannot be done both must suffer in silence. I had

the opportunity to observe that the danger of life limb or health is usually inserted

as the ground upon which the court has proceeded to a separation. The court has

never been driven off.

Sir John Nichol has used the expression, injury to a person or to health,

which I am inclined to take in Lord Stowell’s expression for there might be a

great deal of suffering and brutal usage without coming strictly within the terms

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 of the latter. There must be, however, bodily hurt (not trifling or temporary pain

or reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt).

The Encyclopedic Lam Dictionary meaning of cruelty I as follows, the

legal conception of cruelty, which is to be defined by statute is generally

described as conduct of such a character to have caused danger to life, limb or

health (bodily mental ) or as to give rise to a reasonable apprehension of such

danger.4

According to Black’s Law Dictionary, cruelty means the intentional and

malicious infliction of physical or suffering upon living creatures, particularly

human beings, or as applied to the latter. The wanton, malicious, and unnecessary

infliction of pain upon the body, or the feelings and emotions, abusive treatment

and inhumanity chiefly used in the law of divorce, in such phrases as “cruel and

abusive treatment, “cruel and barbarous” or inhuman treatment.

LEGAL CRUELTY: Mental anguish, mental cruelty.

Women enjoy a unique position socially and physically and are therefore

treated differently by the criminal law. The Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 deals

with various offenses committed against the body, marriage, honour, and modesty

of a woman. “Woman”: as per Section 10 of the IPC “woman” denotes any female

4
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 human being of any age. The following are the main offenses committed against

women.

 » Outraging the modesty of a women

 » Insulting the modesty of a women

 » Rape

 » Kidnapping or abducting a women

 » Offences under the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961

 » Domestic Violence

 » Dowry death

 » Abetment of suicide of a married woman.

 » Bigamy

SEC 354: OUTRAGING THE MODESTY OF A WOMEN

Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty.—Whoever

assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it

to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty, shall be punished with

imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or

with fine, or with both.5

SEC 509: INSULTING THE MODESTY OF A WOMEN

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Central Government Act Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code 509, Word,

gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. Whoever, intending to

insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or

exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such

gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of

such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may

extend to one year, or with fine, or with both6

RAPE (SEC 375 – 376 D)

The definition of rape is given in Article 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as

written below: SEC ‘375. A man is said to commit "rape" if he

(a) penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra, or anus of

a woman or makes her do so with him or any other person; or

(b) inserts, to any extent, any object or a part of the body, not being the penis, into

the vagina, the urethra, or anus of a woman or makes her do so with him or any

other person; or

(c) manipulates any part of the body of a woman to cause penetration into the

vagina, urethra, anus, or any part of the body of a such woman or makes her do so

with him or any other person; or

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(d) applies his mouth to the vagina, anus, or urethra of a woman or makes her do

so with him or any other person, under the circumstances falling under any of the

following seven descriptions.

First.—against her will.

Secondly.—without her consent.

Thirdly.—with her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or

any person in whom she is interested, in fear of death or of hurt.

Fourthly.—with her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and

that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she

is or believes herself to be lawfully married. Fifthly.—With her consent when, at

the time of giving such consent, because of unsoundness of mind or intoxication

or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or

unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences

of that to which she gives consent.7

The exploitation of a trafficked person.

Substitution of new sections for sections 375, 376, 376A, 376B, 376C, and 376D.

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Sixthly.—With or without her consent, when she is under eighteen years of age.

Seventhly.—When she is unable to communicate consent.

Explanation 1.—For this section, "vagina" shall also include labia major.

Explanation 2.—Consent means an unequivocal voluntary agreement when the

woman by words, gestures, or any form of verbal or non-verbal communication,

communicates a willingness to participate in the specific sexual act:

Provided that a woman who does not physically resist the act of penetration shall

not by the reason only of that fact, be regarded as consenting to the sexual

activity.8

Exception 1.—A medical procedure or intervention shall not constitute rape.

Exception 2.—Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife, the wife

not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape.

SEC 376. (1) Whoever, except in the cases provided for in subsection (2),

commits rape, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment of either description

for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may extend to

imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.

(2) Whoever,—(a) being a police officer commits rape—

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(i) within the limits of the police station to which such police officer is appointed;

or (ii) in the premises of any station house; or

(iii) on a woman in such police officer's custody or the custody of a police officer

subordinate to such police officer; or

(b) being a public servant commits rape on a woman in such public servant's

custody or the custody of a public servant subordinate to such public servant; or

(c) being a member of the armed forces deployed in an area by the Central or a

State Government committing rape in such area; or

(d) being on the management or the staff of a jail, remand home or another place

of custody established by or under any law for the time being in force or of a

women's or children's institution commits rape on any inmate of such jail, remand

home, place or institution; or

(e) being on the management or the staff of a hospital committing rape on a

woman in that hospital; or9

(f) being a relative, guardian, or teacher of, or a person in a position of trust or

authority towards the woman, commits rape on such woman; or

(g) commits rape during communal or sectarian violence; or

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(h) commits rape on a woman knowing her to be pregnant; or

(i) commits rape on a woman when she is under sixteen years of age; or

(j) commits rape, on a woman incapable of giving consent; or

(k) being in a position of control or dominance over a woman committing rape on

such a woman; or

(l) commits rape on a woman suffering from mental or physical disability; or

(m) while committing rape causes grievous bodily harm or maims or disfigures or

endangers the life of a woman; or

(n) commits rape repeatedly on the same woman, shall be punished with rigorous

imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, but which may

extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder

of that person's natural life, and shall also be liable to fine.10

Explanation.—for this subsection,—

(a) "armed forces" means the naval, military, and air forces and includes any

member of the Armed Forces constituted under any law for the time being in

force, including the paramilitary forces and any auxiliary forces that are under the

control of the Central Government or the State Government;

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(b) "hospital" means the precincts of the hospital and includes the precincts of any

institution for the reception and treatment of persons during convalescence or of

persons requiring medical attention or rehabilitation;

(c) "police officer" shall have the same meaning as assigned to the expression

"police" under the Police Act, 1861;

(d) "women's or children's institution" means an institution, whether called an

orphanage or a home for neglected women or children or a widow's home, or an

institution called by any other name, which is established and maintained for the

reception and care of women or children. 376A.11

Whoever commits an offense punishable under sub-section (1) or subsection (2)

of section 376 and in the course of such commission inflicts an injury which

causes the death of the woman or causes the woman to be in a persistent

vegetative state, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which

shall not be less than twenty years, but which may extend to imprisonment for

life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life,

or with death.

376-B. Whoever has sexual intercourse with his wife, who is living separately,

whether under a decree of separation or otherwise, without her consent, shall be

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punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be

less than two years but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable

to fine.12

Explanation.—In this section, "sexual intercourse" shall mean any of the acts

mentioned in clauses (a) to (d) of section 375. 376C. Whoever, being—

a) in a position of authority or a fiduciary relationship; or

(b) a public servant; or

(c) superintendent or manager of a jail, remand home, or another place of custody

established by or under any law for the time being in force, or a women's or

children's institution; or

(d) on the management of a hospital or being on the staff of a hospital, abuses

such position or fiduciary relationship to induce or seduce any woman either in his

custody or under his charge or present in the premises to have sexual intercourse

with him, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offense of rape, shall be

punished with rigorous imprisonment of either description for a term which shall

not be less than five years, but which may extend to ten years, and shall also be

liable to fine.13

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Explanation 1.—In this section, "sexual intercourse" shall mean any of the acts

mentioned in clauses (a) to (d) of section 375.

Explanation 2. —For this section, Explanation 1 to section 375 shall also be

applicable.

Explanation 3.—"Superintendent", concerning a jail, remand home, or another

place of custody or a women's or children's institution, includes a person holding

any other office in such jail, remand home, place or institution under which such a

person can exercise any authority or control over its inmates.

Explanation 4.—The expressions "hospital" and "women's or children's

institution" shall respectively have the same meaning as in Explanation to sub-

section (2) of section 376. 376-D. Where a woman is raped by one or more

persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each

of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offense of rape and shall

be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than

twenty years, but which may extend to life which shall mean imprisonment for the

remainder of that person's natural life, and with fine: Provided that such fine shall

be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the

victim: Provided further that any fine imposed under this section shall be paid to

the victim. 376E. Whoever has been previously convicted of an offense

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punishable under section 376 or section 376A or section 376D and is subsequently

convicted of an offense punishable under any of the said sections shall be

punished with imprisonment for life which shall mean imprisonment for the

remainder of that person's natural life, or with death.'. 10. In section 509 of the

Penal Code, for the words "shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term

which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both", the words "shall be

punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years,

and also with fine" shall be substituted.14

SECTION 366. KIDNAPPING, ABDUCTING OR INDUCING A WOMAN

TO COMPEL HER MARRIAGE, ETC.

Whoever kidnaps or abducts any woman with the intent that she may be

compelled, or knowing it to be likely that she will be compelled, to marry any

person against her will, or so that she may be forced or seduced to illicit

intercourse, or knowing it to be likely that she will be forced or seduced to illicit

intercourse shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term

which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; 1[and whoever,

employing criminal intimidation as defined in this Code or of abuse of authority

or any other method of compulsion, induces any woman to go from any place with

intent that she may be or knowing that it is likely she will be, forced or seduced to

illicit intercourse with another person shall be punished as aforesaid. Punishment

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—Imprisonment for 10 years and fine—Cognizable—Non-bailable—Triable by

Court of Session—Non-compoundable.15

SECTION 304-B DOWERY DEATH

SEC 304B. Dowry death.—(1) Where the death of a woman is caused by any

burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances

within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she

was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her

husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be

called “dowry death”, and such husband or relative shall be deemed to have

caused her death.

Explanation

For this subsection, “dowry” shall have the same meaning as in section 2 of the

Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (28 of 1961).

(2) Whoever commits dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment for a

term which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to

imprisonment for life.16

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Punishment—Imprisonment of not less than 7 years but which may extend to

imprisonment for life—Cognizable—Non-bailable—Triable by Court of Session

—Non-compoundable.

SEC498-A.
Husband or relative of the husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty

Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects

such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may

extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation.—For this

section, “cruelty” means—

(a) any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to

commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb, or health (whether

mental or physical) of the woman; or

(b) harassment of the woman where such harassment is intending to coerce her or

any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or

valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to

meet such demand.

SEC 306 Abetment of suicide of women the person who abets a person to

commit suicide is punishable with imprisonment extending up to 10 years

and fine

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SEC 494 BIGAMY17

Section 494 of the Code reads as:-“Whoever having a husband or wife living,

marries in any case in Which such marriage is void because of its taking place

during The life of such husband or wife shall be punished with imprisonment of

either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be

liable to fine.

Exception. --This section does not extend to any person whose marriage with such

husband or wife has been declared void by a Court of competent jurisdiction, nor

to any person who contracts a Marriage during the life of a former husband or

wife, if such husband or wife, at the time of the subsequent marriage, shall have

Been continually absent from such person for the space of seven years, and shall

not have been heard of by such person as being Alive within that time, provided

the person contracting such Subsequent marriage shall before such marriage takes

place, Inform the person with whom such marriage is contracted of the Real states

of facts so far as the same are within his or her knowledge.”

Coming to the cases of bigamy where a person indulges in it by deceiving The

second spouse, Section 495 of the Indian Penal Code says:- “Whoever commits

the offense defined in the last preceding? The section having concealed from the

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person with whom the subsequent marriage is contracted, the fact of the former

marriage, Shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for A term

which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to Fine”

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Subtle analyses of the type of offenses specifically related to women as a

‘category’, reinforced by the VAW statistics, National Crime Records Bureau

(NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, and GOI unfold that gender biases remain

deeply ingrained in society, sustained by the institutions of patriarchy. NCRB

(2011)

Recorded a total of 228650 incidents of VAW [42968 (18.79%)-molestation, 8570

(3.75%) -sexual harassment, 24206 (10.58%) -rape, 35565 - kidnapping and

abduction, 8618-dowry deaths and 99135 (43.35%)-cruelty by husband and

relatives.18

Appalling statistics unpack that from 1953 -2011, rape rose by 873%, which is

three times faster, when all VAW are put together (Bidwai, 2012). Shockingly, a

woman is raped every 22 minutes; every 58 minutes a daughter-in-law is burnt for

dowry and every 51 minutes a woman faces harassment in the public spaces Of

India. Ironically, NCRB (2011) also unfolds that 7112 cases of rape were

committed against children, where one in three of the total rape victims is a child.

That said, Bidwai (2012:6) argues that the key reason, which galvanizes
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VAW in public spaces is the “sexual frustration and machismo.” This is further

augmented by July 09, 2012, Guwahati molestation case followed by Nirbhaya

and similar other incidents that continue to be reported. Anglo-American scholar,

MacKinnon (1979) argues that harassment is an exertion of power to influence the

broad-scale system of male domination and the heterosexual nature of the society

(here, Indian society), which manifests subordination of ‘women as a class ‘in

general and structural subordination of women (Kabeer, 2013) in particular. For

instance, the perpetration of harassment by upper-class/caste men over women of

lower class/castes; by the police, who often demean a woman complainant and

harass the complainant by quizzing vulgar details; by the armed forces, who use

VAW (particularly rape)as a weapon of war, especially in the conflict-ravaged

zones of India: North East India, Kashmir, Jharkhand to annihilate the community

in general and progeny of the family in particular (Kabeer, 2013), thereby, gain

control by paralyzing the entire socio-political process. Dreadfully, a study

conducted by UNICEF (2012) reveals that 57% of Indian boys aged 15-19 years

justify wife-battering.

A similar study by the Thomson Reuters Foundation unfolds that 52% of Indian

women themselves accept some form of domestic violence by men against

women. Such staggering revelations echo that gender remains stratified in

neoliberal modern India. These underlying attitudes, which ignite widening

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gender inequalities, are perhaps far more frightening and worrying with profound

Consequences when it comes to the everyday practices of an individual and or

group.

What is more surprising and shameful is that in the case of VAW, it is the ‘victim’

who is blamed in our society rather than the perpetrator (Lahiri and

Bandyopadhyay, 2012). In the said context, though unsurprising, the misogynistic

rants made by some of the members of Parliament/State legislatures, and spiritual

gurus concerning the Nirbhaya case unmask inherent gender inequality in the

attribution of intent. Some of the voices of misogyny on how women invite rape

upon themselves are19

“Only 5-6 people are not the culprits. The victim is as guilty as her rapists... She

should have called the culprits brothers and begged them to stop... This could

have saved her dignity and life. Can one hand clap? I don’t think so,”

“Such crimes (rapes) hardly take place in Bharat’, but they occur frequently in

‘India’.”20 “We have told the chief minister in the assembly that the government

will pay money to compensate rape victims. What is your fee? If you are raped,

what will be your fee?” “Jab Tak koi maxilla the Nazar se haseginahi tab takes koi

aadmi use chhedega Nahi (No man will harass a woman unless led by her)”.The
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list of such statements continues unabated. Unarguably, the deep-rooted

prejudices that

Extend to women in general and the pervasive in public spaces have often

restricted women's mobility. Scholars argue that most Indian women maintain a

delusion of safety barriers by drawing on boundaries to their bodies and personal

Spaces through the practices of Indian femininity while accessing and negotiating

Public spaces (Phadke, 2005; 2007; Phadke et al. 2011) as the onus of remaining

safe lies squarely on the women. Arguably, such restrictive approaches reflect that

women remain vulnerable in accessing public spaces. Will the Act enhance

women’s safety? Access to violence-free and safe public spaces is the basic right

of a woman. Yet, the greatest challenge relates to the alarming threat to women’s

safety and freedom of movement in public spaces. Notwithstanding the Act

(please Refer to Table 1) advocates its focus on VAW and seeks to provide

stringent punishment to the perpetrators of extreme cases of rapes and gang rapes.

However, the question arises will ‘longer jail terms’ or ‘capital punishment

‘enhance women’s safety and security in public, although for sure such a law may

inculcate a sense of fear among the culprits? For the first time, the Act endeavors

to punishable offenses for those police officers who fail to register a First

Information Report (FIR). 21

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 The Act also addresses penalties for other abhorrent forms of crime

(stalking, touching, sexually cultured remarks, voyeurism, human trafficking, and

acid attacks, awarding a minimum 10-year jail term to the perpetrators and a

reasonable fine to meet the medical expenses of the victim). However, it remains

unclear as to how the perpetrators of the offenses like touching, stalking, and

sexually cultured remarks would be accused and subsequently prove the assailant

as guilty. Although there are no comprehensive statistics on the number of acid

attacks, a study conducted by Cornell University (2011) reports that between

January 2002-October 2010,153 cases of acid attacks were reported, which not

only disfigured the victims but also ruined and isolated their lives. Disgracefully,

a bottle of a hazardous chemical is easily available in the Informal market, which

is relatively cheap (50), but sufficient to disfigure a woman.

However, the GOI is yet to enforce strict regulations on the production,

storage, distribution, and sale of these concentrated chemicals. At the same time,

the Act fails to frame legislation that eliminates easy access to acid, though Tamil

Nadu has already introduced legislation to control its sale. In addition, the Act

also fails to address contentious issues like ‘marital rape’ or ‘legal immunity for

army officials. The JVC report suggests that an army officer accused of sexual

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assault or rape should be tried under civilian law and should not be protected by

the law that guarantees absolute protection. 22

Although the Act considers ‘rape by armed personnel’ within the area they

are posted in as an offense, with a punishment of no less than seven years, and

which may extend to imprisonment for life and a fine, however, this offense is

meaningless for the military officers/soldiers deployed in the states of North East

India, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir, where the 1958 draconian Armed

Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is still in force, which guarantees effective

immunity to the armed officials. This means that not only those victims of brazen

rapes, murders, and other brutal sexual violence by the armed officers where the

AFSPA functions may fail to seek justice, but also the perpetrators of this heinous

VAW may never face prosecution; however, they may be awarded gallantry.

It is worth noting here that AFSPA continues to operate despite the

continuous silent opposition by IromSharia, the Iron Lady of Manipur, who has

been on the world’s longest hunger strike, since November 02, 2000demanding

GOI to repeal AFSPA. Further; the Act has increased the age of consent to 18

years, which remained 16 since1983.

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 Critics argue that raising the age of consent to 18 leaves ample room to

wrongly prosecute teenagers (boys) below 18 (more precisely 16-18) years as

rapists or offenders of sexual assaults simply for kissing, hugging, or even having

consensual sex with a female counterpart of his age (Krishnan, 2013). Hence, the

Act falls short of what many feminist organizations seek, and therefore, criticizes

the Act as ‘tokenism ‘What needs to be done?23

Despite its flaws, the Act bears a progressive insight to make an impact and fight a

battle against VAW. However, the Act by itself is not sufficient to redress and

seek justice for VAW. For this, the GOI needs to make colossal investments in

building the necessary infrastructure to deal with the crimes supplemented by

meaningful reforms in the judiciary (building fast-track women’s courts, more

engagement of women lawyers, and women doctors to examine victims) and

modernization of the police system across the whole of India. In the wake of the

Nirbhaya incident, the GOI

Has announced a Nirbhaya fund of ₹ 10 billion in 2013-14, Union Budget, to

enhance women’s safety and security in public spaces, attribute to the brave soul.

As a starting point, perhaps the Nirbhaya, the fund can be best utilized to conduct

a safety audit in each state/union territory to redesign the architecture of its towns

and cities and vis-à-vis assess the vulnerable spots that are most likely to invite

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upon VAW, plug these flaws and develop strategies for crime prevention.

Alongside, it remains well documented that the streetlights of most Indian cities

remain inadequate and fail to function properly. JVC report too (pp. 420)

recommends, “Street Lighting everywhere would provide more safety since dark

areas are more prone to facilitate crimes”. The underlying irony is that though

most cities adhere to the norms of the Ministry of Urban Development and

provide street lights with every 40 meters bearing a minimum illumination

capacity of 35 lux, however, most of these lights (in most towns and cities)remain

either dysfunctional or the level of performance remains very poor with a very

low gleaming potency.24

Hence, all the states must take urgent steps to revamp and strengthen highly

efficient public lighting facilities, perhaps using smarter lights. Possibly, the urban

spaces of each state must initiate to install Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps,

which are deemed as highly efficient having 50,000 hours of life. It is evident that

although the initial installation of these lamps involves higher capital costs,

Being highly energy efficient would entail higher savings in terms of its

operations and maintenance. This will spur the safety and security of the urban

spaces and boost public confidence. A 2012 study conducted by the Bureau of

Police Research& Development (BPR&D) reveals a shortage of manpower in the

24
https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1860-45.pdf

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police departments For every 568 persons, there is only one policeman and the

ratio of police to population is 176.2 police per hundred thousand of the

population. 25

On scrutiny, a minimum of 88 persons are looked after by one police officer in

Tripura and Manipur through to a maximum of 1,187 and 1,133 respectively in

West Bengal and Bihar. The case of Nirbhaya, who was murdered in a moving

bus (without a permit) having black tinted windows, and which passed through

successive check posts without being confronted demonstrates the case of poor

policing. It is hard to imagine when the nation’s capital lacks security, what could

be the conditions of other states and union territories?

Further, the JVC report also unfolds that not only police are apathetic towards

gender justice but also (as stated above) are insensitive in tacklingVAW.

Alongside, stark evidence shows that due to the very low availability of women

police officers, many women victims fail to complain about sex crime

(Bhattacharyya, in press): there are approximately 84,479 women in different

police departments out of all India total (Civil Police + Armed Police) of

2,124,596, which merely constitute 3.98% of the total Police force. 26However, the

Act requires that a female officer should record all information in the case of

25
https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1860-45.pdf
26
https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1860-45.pdf

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offenses like acid attack, sexual harassment, disrobing, voyeurism, outraging a

woman’s modesty, and rape (of all kinds). Hence, the GOI urges all states/union

territories to increase the number of female police officers to 33% of the total

police strength.

104