Rape after rape shocks the nation and forces the government to make knee-jerk responses. But nothing changes on the ground as the infrastructure facilitating crimes against women is left untouched and false assurances fly around with abandon

last weekend, for the second time in eight months, India rose as one nation to express shock, anger and dismay. A young photographer interning with a lifestyle magazine was gang raped amidst the ruins of an old factory in the heart of Mumbai.  She and her male colleague had gone there to take pictures of the scenes of dilapidation in the light of the setting sun. The miscreants threatened to harm her with a broken bottle which they held against her face all the while. They even photographed her and made her clean the scene of the crime before allowing her to go.

For two days and nights men and women from all walks of life paraded in the downtowns of most Indian cities to express their disappointment with the government for not focusing on safety of women in public places. Journalists also took out processions to express solidarity. Non-stop media coverage touched on the slow progress of the trial of the accused in the “Nirbhaya” case of Delhi whose brutality exceeded all previously set limits. There were also panel discussions involving politicians and social activists. The unanimity -that the Indian State has failed to assure half its population safety from sex offenders — was indeed striking.

In many ways the Mumbai girl’s ordeal (leaving out the lord’s grace that she came out of it alive) mirrored that of “Nirbhaya”, the 22-year-old student paramedic who was brutally raped and fatally wounded by six men in a moving bus in New Delhi on December 16, 2012. Both were examples of public spaces being taken over by the worst kind of criminals. It’s as if our cities and towns are perfect locales for rapists to thrive in. It appears that local administrations in India are failing to dismantle the infrastructure facilitating this crime against humanity.

Impunity

“Nirbhaya” was beguiled into accepting a ride on a private vehicle illegally operating as a public bus, which speaks volumes for the impunity with which dubious businesses operate in the national capital. This vehicle had blinds drawn which were also banned, yet it not only moved around Delhi without police intervention before the ill-fated night, but also gave the rapists all the help they needed to commit their diabolical act on December 16. Finally, she and her male friend were thrown out of the bus on a Delhi street and left to fend for themselves, bleeding and naked. Two police groups arrived in their own sweet time and then wasted more hours arguing over jurisdiction. Yet, no heads rolled. The police commissioner not only kept his job, he walked away into happy retirement a few months later and one sees him often popping up on TV programmes with expert comments on ideal policing. If it is argued that a police commissioner can hardly be held accountable for every rape — indeed, given Delhi’s rate we’d need a new face every few hours — then what about the officials whose job it was to keep illegal buses with blinds off the road, or the policemen who caused Nirbhaya so much agony by forgetting the basic law on policingIJ Why didn’t at least one head rollIJ

A sense of déjà vu has gripped me. How many more processions and candlelight vigils will we see before the government actsIJ

Nonchalance

For me, the Mumbai incident and its consequent public outrage happened at a crossroads moment because of a personal involvement with the subject. Over the past year my conscience had been shaken up by the recurring crimes against women which provoked me to write articles in various newspapers including Saturday Special. I also decided to venture out and acquire first-hand knowledge of the grim conditions in Delhi which help rapists not only do their crime, but also walk away laughing leaving their victims irrevocably destroyed. Accompanied by my wife, I went to see for myself how “Gudia”, the five-year-old gang-raped by two neighbours in the Gandhinagar area of east Delhi in April, was doing. Then I went to see the family of “Nirbhaya”. Finally, I went to the homes and offices of activists who tirelessly work to secure the women and girl children of this city from sexual predators — but fail because of official nonchalance.

Gudia vanished from public consciousness after the media’s attention moved to other issues. “As long as the cameras were there the politicians, policemen and doctors gave her attention. But after that, we were forced to leave our house and moved like refugees from place to place,” her uncle, Santosh, told me and my wife. Reading her medical file —replete with details on the five surgeries she has undergone till date and suggestions of more - I must admit being overcome with emotion. What’s more, neighbours and relatives ganged up against the family suggesting that this little piece of innocence was somehow responsible for her own gang rape and associated barbarity.  They were forced to leave Gandhinagar and moved around town like refugees. Both my wife and I felt so humbled by the story of their suffering of this little piece of innocence that I resolved to dedicate my political  career to fighting sexual crime.

Thanks to an NGO, little Gudia and her family comprising her father, mother, uncle and little brother, today have a small place to live in. But it is in Dwarka Sector 19, where there is no scope for employment for her parents. They have to travel to the other end of town to Karkadooma Court to get justice. After the tragedy was blown up in the media, the chief minister of Delhi had promised the family a lot of help. But afterwards, they became incommunicado. The cynical attitude of a senior minister of the Dikshit government, as revealed by Gudia’s family, made me feel ashamed as a politician. What’s most appalling is that her case is not being heard by a special court — no “fast track” for her. An oversight in the Delhi administration’s order in implementation of a Supreme Court judgment dictates that only rapes committed on adult women are put on “fast track”. Child victims must suffer the old, long-drawn out process. What’s most inhuman is that little children like Gudia (5) and even younger are compelled to recall every detail of their ordeal and recount it even a year after it is over.

How come none of our Parliamentarians thought of this while enacting the supposedly “landmark” Prevention of Sexual Crimes on Children Act, 2012IJ Why didn’t they simplify the procedure in such a way that the child’s statement is recorded only once before a magistrate who visits her in her house within hours of the incidentIJ Talking to Gudia and later the NGO leaders, I got to understand how easy it is for child rapists to walk away. No child of two or three (often younger) can be expected to speak coherently before strangers dressed in intimidating black and that too a whole year later. That compels the judges to give the culprits the benefit of doubt.

I was one of the first visitors to Nirbhaya’s family after they moved into a government-provided apartment in Dwarka’s Sector 21. The Delhi and central governments could not ignore their suffering thanks to the continued focus by national and international media. For journalists, “Nirbhaya” has become some kind of a reference point. Every time there is a rape which reminds them of December 16 (why the thousands of others don’t beats me) they rush to her father for “quotes”. I think this is increasing their psychological suffering. “My family is totally shattered,” her father told me holding back tears. “My two sons miss their sister the most because she was their inspiration. Now one of them cannot concentrate on his studies while the other one is more determined.”

Indifferent

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)’s recently released  “Crime in India 2012” report reveals that the singular crime of rape is the fastest growing crime in India and has increased by 902 percent over 1971 to 2012. The incidents of rapes reported increased from 24,206 in 2011 to 24,923 in 2012.

The NCRB data backs up Delhi’s claims to being “rape capital”. The Indian capital, home to 18 million people, has witnessed more rapes than the four other biggest cities (Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata) put together and accounts for about 15 per cent of crime against women in urban India. Bangalore follows with 6 per cent and Mumbai with 4.86 per cent.

Is this shameful fact causing Sheila Dikshit, the country’s longest reigning woman chief minister, loss of sleepIJ Evidently not. The streets of Delhi are still unlit in the evenings. The police: population ratio remains abysmal. I have been crying from rooftops for the past ten years demanding the deployment of the capital’s 70,000 home guards on street patrol but the government has ignored me. The hospitals of Delhi were the pride of India up to the end of the 1990s. Today their staff lack basic sensitivity in dealing with rape victims - in fact they seem to be attuned to increasing their suffering. The doctors are indifferent to the poverty and special needs of the families and coolly ask them to pay for their treatment. The Delhi legal Aid Authority is supposed to bear the expenses, but its bureaucracy doesn’t even bother to inquire into every victim’s needs.

The police-public interfaces to enhance women’s security at the neighbourhood level (made mandatory after December 16) are no longer working mainly because local businessmen are using them as platforms to lubricate their arrangements with the police bosses.

I worry for my daughter — who is about the same age as “Nirbhaya” and the Mumbai photographer. Unlike Sheila Dikshit daughter, who has practically the entire force of 80,000 at her beck and call. My little girl has to move about Delhi for her work like an ordinary young woman. As a legislator I am powerless to protect her — the “system” is too hopeless.

(The writer is Member, BJP National Executive and former Delhi minister)