Delhi may have gained infamy for crime against women after the horrific Nirbhaya case but the tribal State seem to have utterly failed to curb violence against women despite all claims made by authorities. An engineering college girl being raped and burnt to death in Ranchi on Friday is the fourth such case in a raw where women have been burnt to death in a matter of few days.
62-year-old Chotrai Devi and her 70-year-old husband lohar Singh were burnt to death in Simdega district on December 14. Villagers killed them as they suspected the woman to be practicing back magic and killing children and people by some magical power, police said.
In similar yet ghastly incidents a minor girl was burnt and thrown in a well as she raised her voice against people who tried to gang-rape her in Seraikela-Kharsawa district. Moreover a woman in Khunti district was burnt to death allegedly for practicing witchcraft recently.
Jharkhand police's official website shows that 1,147 rape, 299 dowry death and 42 Witch related death cases were registered in the State between November 2015 and October 2016. The data is almost similar in the last few years.
After death of five women in witchcraft related violence near Ranchi in August this year the Jharkhand High Court had asked the government to make an effective awareness programme in this regard focusing on the worst hit districts in the State. The government then woke up from slumber as SPs were directed to prepare databases of the most affected spots in their areas. Special Cells of police at the district level and State level were also created to keep an eye on such cases.
The Government also launched an awareness vehicle, which was supposed to move in the villages making people aware of the ill effects of superstitions. The Department of Women and Child Development had taken the task on priority to make people aware involving panchayats.
However, the statistics show a gory picture of crimes against women in the State. On an average the State witnesses over 90 rape cases, 24 dowry deaths and three witchcraft related death every month.
Taking note of the incidents Women, Child development and Social Welfare Minister louis Marandi said that since the issues are mostly related to people's ignorance and less awareness about superstitions, laws, the government would infuse more funds for special awareness campaign against such crimes. "We have been giving instructions to police and there is a special cell also to curb such incidents. But this is more because of social issues, which need to be addressed through massive campaigns. We would request the government for more funds to help us launch an effective battle against the crimes," she said.
State police, on the other hand, maintains that the rise in crimes is corroborative of the rising population and related social issues. "Statistics show a picture as you want them to be seen. There is no alarming increase in the crime level. It has to be seen rationally. Moreover, we have been doing many things to curb crime against women. Shakti App was developed, women commandoes have been trained in Ranchi and Jamshedpur to handle such cases. These commandoes and liaison officers in colleges go and train students to fight back against such crimes," said State Police Spokesperson and IG (Operations) Ashish Batra.
"For witchcraft related violence cases CID officers have been trained and we encourage registering cases related to any violence against women. So these figures give us a rational view," he added.