”While a murderer devastates the physical frame of the victim, a rapist deteriorates and defiles the soul of innocent life. ”
Sexual assault on women is a frequent happening in our country. Under sexual assault comes; molestation, eve-teasing, child sex abuse, marital rapes, domestic violence. Rapes are one of the worst crimes; ironically, the most common one. According to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, Rape means illegal intercourse done by a man with a woman without her valid consent. Rape outrages a woman’s modesty. After a rape incident, a woman lives a pathetic life saturated with fear, depression, guilt complex, suicidal action, and social stigma. In recent times, Rape incidents have increased manifold. According to statistics, two women are raped in the country every hour. In addition, according to the statistics, every 10 hours, a girl age 1-10 is being raped in India. It appears that rapists are not scared of laws. The recent incident which shook the nation was the gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student in a moving bus on the streets of Delhi. The cruelty which was shown towards the girl by the rapists filled every Indian with wrath. Thousands of people came to the streets to demand justice for the young lady.
The protests compelled our leaders to sit up and think, and now amendments to the laws concerned with sexual assault on women are underway. Every day the newspaper reports of rape incidents. In the majority of rape cases, the victim knows the rapist. Some events are a rude shock to humanity. One of them was when a man raped her 5-year-old neighbor. Reports show that the rapist brutally destroyed her internal organs beyond cure. Some cases have come to light wherein teachers have raped their students. The question which arises when we talk of rapes is what causes rape. Why are rape cases increasing at an alarming rate? The first and foremost cause of increasing rape cases is the lack of public safety. Women are not safe outside their homes, and why only outside they are not safe even inside their homes.
Several cases have come into notice wherein the guilty has committed the crime in the very house of the victim. Rapes in moving vehicles raise a question on the effectiveness of the traffic system of our country. Another prominent reason is the sluggish court system of India and few convictions. India’s court system is painfully slow, and for rapes that do get reported, the conviction rate is not more than 26%. As the accused do not get any trial, others think that they can go around freely and rape whosoever they like. Stigmatizing the victim and encouraging the victim to compromise gives a further impetus to this horrendous crime. In many rural areas, the victim is forced to drop charges against the guilty and is encouraged to marry their rapist by telling them that nobody will marry them now and it will bring shame to her family. In recent times, prominent leaders and experts have blamed women’s clothing for increasing rape cases. No clothing is an invitation to rape.