New Delhi: Two years after the ‘Nirbhaya’ incident, her parents feel distraught and say they have not got justice so far and as long as the mindset of the society did not change, women could never be safe on Delhi’s roads.
Pinning hopes for justice on the new government, “They say he (Narendra Modi) is fearless. Will he help us get justice?†says the father of December 16 gang rape victim as he fights back tears while remembering his daughter whose brutal rape and murder two years ago shook the nation’s conscience.
The 49-year-old father expressed his wish to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said, “Modi is a decision taker.â€
The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was gangraped, and brutally sexually assaulted by six men, including a juvenile, in a moving bus on December 16, 2012. The accused then threw her and her male companion out of the vehicle, to die by the roadside on the cold December night.
The woman died of grave intestinal injuries on December 29, 2012 at a Singapore hospital, where she was airlifted for specialised treatment.
The incident which triggered an outrage not only in India but across the world, depicted the national capital as an unsafe place for women. The recent UBER cab incident, a reminder of the December 16, 2012, raises many questions on the safety of women in the capital. Many working women, students, foreign nationals still feel that measures need to be taken to review measures to ensure security and safety of women in Delhi and the NCR.
According to government statistics, a woman is raped every 17 minutes in India. Although things started to change but unfortunately more cases of sexual violence including rape has been reported in Delhi in the last two years. A senior police officer said there had been a surge in the number of rape cases filed in 2014 from 2013 and overall there are over 3500 cases filed post-Nirbhaya incident in the capital.
However, crime statistics and prosecution rates show that most of these crimes go unnoticed, unreported while most rape cases are filed against persons who are known to the victim.
According to a study by Delhi Police, most of the rape victims in the nation capital are below 18 years and majority of the incident have happened within family or men known to the victim.
After the December 16 gang rape, the government set up the Justice J S Verma committee to suggest easier trial and enhanced punishment. Many of the panel’s recommendations were adopted in changes made to the anti-rape law.
In the aftermath of the 2012 gang rape, six fast track courts were set up which disposed of 400 cases this year and around the same number last year. But still over 1,000 rape cases are pending in the Delhi courts.
According to Delhi Police data, rape figures have gone up in the city – with 11,683 cases of crimes against women registered between Jan 1 and Oct 20 against 10,064 cases registered in the same period last year – an increase of 16%.