The failure of the machinery of the government to curb atrocities on women

THE FAILURE OF THE MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT

 

TO CURB ATROCITIES AGAINST WOMEN

 

                                                                                     –By—

                                                                            K.Akshay kumar,

                                                                            L.L.M,

                                                                            ML(FS&CM),

                                                                            NALSAR & IIRM.

“Hunger is not just malnutrition. Hunger is rape,molestation,alcoholism,dowry,female infanticide and foetacide”

 

                                                            –Mohini Giri

                                                               Former chairperson of national                           

                                                               Commission for women.

 

At a time when Andhra Pradesh ,and Hyderabad in particular, is attracting hundreds of women software professionals from all over the country, the state has earned the dubious distinction for crime against the fair sex.

 

The latest statistics of the national crime records bureau(NCRB) for 2007 reveals a telling tale of increasing crimes against women in the state, much more than any other part of the country. Of the 1,85,312 crimes against women in the entire country in 2007, 24,738 cases, or 13.3 percent, were reported from Andhra Pradesh.

 

Even more disturbing is the statistics pertaining to Hyderabad and its outskirts. A comparison of crimes against women in 35 cities across the country shows that Hyderabad stands second,next only to delhi. While 4,331 cases (17.5 percent) were registered in delhi, Hyderabad came second with 1,931 cases (7.8 percent). Vijaywada topped in the number of eve-teasing cases by accounting for 11.3 percent of the total cases in the country.

 

“ if the police is strict in dealing with the offenders, things would not have come to such a pass. One of the reasons why there are more crimes against women is that law enforcers do not deal with the offenders firmly”,says  G. Sucharitha, joint director,gender programming, centre for world solidarity.

 

Interestingly, Andhra Pradesh , which has 7.2 percent of the country’s population has reported 13.3 percent of cases of crimes against women while uttarpradesh, which has 16.6 percent of the country’s population, reported 11.3 percent or 20,993 cases.

 

According to NCRB  figures, crimes against women in general in the country have been increasing every year. In 2003, there were 1,40,601 cases, in 2004- 1,54,333 cases, in 2005- 1,55,553 cases and in 2006 there were 1,64,765 cases.

 

Another disturbing trend is that the rate of crime has increased against women. While the overall, rate of crimes against women increased marginally from 14.7 percent in 2006 to 16.3 percent in 2007 , for Andhra Pradesh in particular , it has been bad.

 

The crime rate against women increased by 30.3 in Andhra Pradesh, which is almost that of tripura at 30.7 percent which is at the top.

“women in andhra Pradesh feel unsafe because the government is also not sincere in ensuring their protection” said women’s rights activist Noorjehan siddiqui.

 

What made situation more difficult in Andhra Pradesh was the fact that the Andhra Pradesh womens commission has been without a chairperson since she was caught on camera, in September 2007, allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs.50,000 to help a women victim.

 

In 2007, Andhra Pradesh had the dubious distinction of being ranked fourth worst with respect to atrocities against dalits. According to the NCRB, 3,383 cases were reported in this state of which 46 were cases of murder and 105 were rape cases.

 

According to statistics published by some newspapers about the criminal attacks, husband and in-laws harassment and other tpes of violence those took place in five states during 2007 year. Especially Andhra Pradesh has occupied number one rank in harassment on women. I produce these published statistics.

 

 

 

According to the report published by the NCRB during the year2007 cases registered on:-

 

(1) Dowry deaths:

 

Uttar Pradesh state-2076; bihar-1172;Madhya Pradesh-742;Andhra Pradesh state-613.

 

(2) Kidnapping:

 

Uttar Pradesh – 4478; bihar – 2530; rajasthan – 2177;

Andhra Pradesh – 2097.

 

(3) Immoral behaviour:

 

Madhya Pradesh – 6772; Andhra Pradesh – 4406.

 

(4) husband and in-laws harassment:

 

Andhra Pradesh – 11,335; Bengal – 9900; Rajasthan – 8170;

 Uttar Pradesh – 7650; maharashtra – 7356.

 

(5) Sexual harassment:

 

Uttar Pradesh – 2714; Andhra Pradesh – 2411; maharashtra – 984; Tamil nadu – 852; Madhya Pradesh – 762.

 

The total number of cases on violence subjected to women during the year 2007 in five states are 79,147.

 

Apart from this regular crimes on women such as sexual harassment, husband and in-laws harassment, immoral behavior, dowry death, rape,molestation,kidnapping and abduction, new crime known as acid attacks on women are on rise these days. “The reason for the rise of acid attacks may be sexual jealousy, faction fights, dowry harassment, rejection of love or marriage proposal” as told by chairperson of state human rights commission B. Subhashan Reddy and member E. Ismail , said acid attacks had become rampant and in most cases the victims were women.

 

Taking the statistics in Andhra Pradesh with respect to brutal violence on women as per computer search and reports in news paper:

 

(1) On 29-10-1999 one by name subhani attacked a lady student by name prasanna laxmi of J.J.C college of guntur and separated her head using sharp knife in her classroom for refusal to accept his love. He was imprisoned for life.

(2) On 21-6-2004 in vijaywada one by name manohar killed srilaxmi in  her classroom for the same reason. She was doing her MCA.

(3) On 10-8-2005 in karimnagar one by name madhu killed a 7 th class student mamatha by giving poison  for her refusal.

(4) On 23-9-2005 in karimnagardistrict one by name gangadhar killed a 15 year girl for her refusal.

(5) On 21-6-2006 in the capital of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad one by name kanniah singh cut the head of rani with a talwar(knife) for her parents settled her marriage with another man.

(6) On 11-2-2007 one by name Chandrasekar killed laxmi sujatha a television news  reader in vijaywada for her refusal to marry him.

(7) On 19-2-2007 one by name T.Ramesh killed parvatamma an eighteen year old women since her parents settled her marriage with another man.

(8)On 4-7-2007 in chitoor district [china gottugallu village] one by name muni Krishna attacked rajitha an inter student with grass cutter.

(9) On 18-7-2008 in khamman city one by name M.Pasha cut the throat of S.Sumera(18) with the knife for the same reason.

(10) On 4-9-2008 one by name sandeep attacked meenakumari an engineering student with a knife.

(11) On 27-12-2007, ayesha meera(19) was raped and murdered at her hostel in ibrahimpatnam of vijaywada.

(12) In November 2007, a college lecturer in srikakulam district threw acid on BSC final year student for spurning his advances.

(13) In april 2008, in kurnool a spurned lover attacked an intermediate student with knife.

(14) In april2008, an engineering student in vijaywada slit the throat of his college mate after she rejected his love.

(15) upcoming actress bhargavi of ‘Ashta chamma’ fame was stabbed to death by her live-in partner Praveen kumar who later committed suicide in december2008.

(16) On 13- 12-2008 k. swapnika and t. praneetha  were attacked with acid by the former’s spurned lover and his friends. They were gunned down by the warangal police.

(17) On 21-4-2009, a trader and an independent candidate sprayed acid on the additional district sessions judge,causing him minor burn injuries.

(18) On 1-1-2009, in chagallu village in west godavari, a farm worker sustained grievous injuries when his wife allegedly threw acid on him.

(19) On 17-6-2009, in guntur, one s.k.nabi, threw acid on devineni lakshmanma. The bottle missed her, but the contents fell on her and two other women anjamma and balika lakshmi tripatamma resulting in minor injuries.

(20) On 20-6-2009, In guntur, basha , threw acid on padma. The accused was said to be her lover.

(21) On 20-6-2009, in guntur, one jangala venkateswara rao,38,hailing from darsi prakasham was brought to the government general hospital for acid burns. He was allegedly attacked by three of his known rival.

(22)On 28-6-2009, in guttikonda village village in guntur one M.venkataramanamma was injured in acid attack.

(23) On 1-7-2009, in bapatla , one jhansi an intermediate student consumed pesticide with her lover Icumarthy Veerendra , a photographer died while undergoing treatment in general hospital in guntur.

(24) On 2-7-2009, in guntur, a farmer attacked his wife and their two year old daughter by throwing acid on them.

(25) On 26-6-2009, in Hyderabad, one vinod(28) stabbed reshma for spurning his proposals though he made several requests and stabbed her mother who rushed to her daughter rescue.

(26) On 2-7-2009, in Hyderabad, one sudhakar student of electronics and communications branch attacked a girl student of computer science branch of TRR polytechnic college at meerpet with a sickle injuring her seriously.

(27) On 2-7-2009, in Hyderabad , one m.shravan kumar, a second year  intermediate student had his fingernails cut and pulled out by four of his classmates because he was friendly with a junior student. The incident took place at sri chaitanya junior college at bachupally campus.

(28) On 2-7-2009, in mylavaram mandal in Krishna district, two police constables were arrested following an allegation by a women that they and their friends repeatedly raped her after blackmailing her with cell phone clips.

(29) On 5-7-2009, in tirupati, one peddireddi(50) attacked prameela (45) and her son venkatesh(7) with a blade inficting deep cuts on their throats.

(30) On 8-7-2009, in nandyal(kurnool), one china alias bujji attacked a girl suchitra with a knife for spurning his love.

(31) On 9-7-2009, in karimnagar one woman home guard bukya bharati(32) was found murdered at her rented house. Police found her decomposing body with its throat slit.

(32) On 10-7-2009, in guntur, a home guard palaparthy ramesh(30) poured kerosene on a women and tried to set her ablaze in anguluru village ,puru mandal in guntur district. The victim suffered 70% burns.

(33)On 11-7-2009,in vizianagaram ,the CI who was annoyed when the complainant went to higher official, allegedly bent her up severely. The complainant was m.padmavathi of kanapaka area.

(34) One, uma Chandra kala was allegedly burnt by her husband , venugopal and in-laws as she did not give money to purchase gas cylinder.

(35) On 9-7-2009, in tirupathi , a 19 year old daily wage earner from bairagipetteda area in tirupati lodged a complaint with the police that three of her uncles had sexually exploited her for the last few months.

(36) On recently a father and son duo, both judges, were arrested in a dowry case.

(37) In Hyderabad ,one radhika agarwal ,the daughter-in-law of an influential businessman m.l.agarwal committed suicide following dowry harassment.

 

These are the few cases which are highlighted in the newspapers. There are many cases of violence against women which are not reported.

 

While the human rights activists allege police inaction, the police complain about lack of manpower and increasing crimes across the state in addition to the extremist and terrorist problems.even as the blame game continues , there seems to be no end to atrocities against women in a state where women is now the home minister.

 

As per computer search ,news from press trust of India ,mon-mar02,2009:

Acid attack: centre fails to come up with clear stand:

 

the centre on Monday failed to come up with a clear stand in supreme court on the issue of framing a new laws or making amendments in the existing ones to deal with acid attacks, which are on rise, as a specified offence.

 

When the matter came up for hearing before the bench headed by chief justice K.G.Balakrishnan, it was informed that the centre has not filed counter affidavit on the petition.

 

The court was hearing a PIL filed in 2006 by a Delhi based minor girl Laxmi whose arms,face and other body parts were disfigured in an acid attack.

 

Laxmi,through her counsel aparna bhat ,has sought framing new laws or amendment in the existing criminal laws like Indian penal code,Indian evidence act and the Criminal procedure code for dealing with the offence and has also sought compensation which has not yet been provided.

 

The court during an earlier hearing had expressed displeasure over the reluctance of the state to provide compensation to a victim of acid attack and had termed the act as “worse than murder”

 

When the matter was heard last on dec18,2008 the counsel had drawn the attention of the court to the incident of acid attack on two college girls in Andhra Pradesh to buttress the contention for a ban on free sale of acid which has emerged as a weapon of attack.

 

“A ban on free sale of acid and a law to regulate and restrict its sale should be considered”, bhat had argued.

 

The centre ,which was also asked to consider a law similar to the one in Bangladesh to regulate and restrict the sale of acid to check its use as a weapon ,had said such a step would not be a practical and it would lead to “Inspector Raj”

 

“centre has said suggessions for adding a new section 326A to IPC after existing section 326 were also made”- it had said.

 

During the hearing april 28 last year , the court had said that the centre was not “serious” on framing a new laws to deal with incidents of acid attacks which had increased manifold in the past few years.

 

In shivpuri,feb20, raj(22), accosted nidhi and her friends jyothi and puja at a roundabout in the heart of shivpuri town on Wednesday and threw sulphuric acid ,leaving her with severe burns.

 

The national women’s commission and the law commission have recommended tougher laws to curb acid attacks. A draft bill by the women’s panel has suggested a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for throwing acid and causing deformity or disability.

 

The prevention of offences (by acid)bill,2008 has also proposed that the centre should constitute a national acid attack victim’s assistance board and form monitoring authority in states to help victims get quick medical treatment and counseling.

 

Any victim incase of death, a legal heir would have to approach the board. The board would prima-facie study the application and if satisfied release an interim amount of Rs. 5lakhs to the victim from the fund within 30 days of appeal. The board can release up to another Rs. 35 lakhs to a victim for medical and legal expenses against bill product.

 

The bill, however, is stuck in a bureaucratic tangle and is not likely to see the light of day soon.

 

The law commission has suggested a minimum 10 yearjail term and a maximum of life imprisonment.

 

In december2008, a Supreme Court bench had scrapped a Bombay high court judgment that reduced mallappa sangramappa mallipatil’s sentence to a mere 35 days from the three years imprisonment ordered by the trial court.

 

The apex court took exception to the high court ruling that showed leniency to an acid attack accused.

 

In Bangalore, on april20,1999,19 years old haseena’s life changed for ever, when joseph Rodriguez decided to avenge haseena’s rejection of his offer of a job by flinging two litres of concentrated sulphuric acid on her.

 

In august 2006, the Karnataka high court sentenced her attacker to life imprisonment. He was  asked to pay Rs.2 lakhs as compensation to victim. The division bench comprising Justice S.R.Bannurmath and Justice Subhash B.Adi said,”one would shudder to look at her damaged face”. It said haseena could not walk on the streets and had , thus become prisoner in her house”. The court said it “ could not shut its eyes to the growing and obnoxious tendency of the youth to use corrosive substance such an acid, causing not only severe physical damage but also mental trauma in the victims”. In case the acid victim survives, it will only be as a grotesque disfigured person,wholives with mangled flesh and suffers a fate worse than death, the bench said.

 

It also directed the state government to expeditiously provide special help and rehabilitation for victims of acid attacks. It took note of the fact that restorative surgeries cost a fortune, and they were not affordable to ordinary people.

 

In the wake of a spurt in acid attacks on women, the Andhra Pradesh state human rights commission has recommended to the government to introduce a specific provision in the Indian penal code for tackling such offences with an iron hand and introduce a bill.

 

An SHRC order, issued ina case taken up suo motto by its chairperson B.Subhashan Reddy and member E.Ismail, said acid attacks had become rampant and in most cases the victim s were women.

 

Referring to the latest acid attacks on two married women merely because they spurned the advances of two men, the order said “there is no specific provision in Indian Penal Code dealing with acid attack. Because of the spurt in such crimes, there is a necessity to deal with the said offences with an iron hand by introducing a specific provision in the IPC which can act as deterrence”

 

Noting that such cases were being tried under sec.326 of Indian Penal Code, the order said introduction of a specific provision was imperative and that both the union and state government could legislate.

 

The commission recommended to the state government to incorporate sec.326-A in IPC by introducing a bill.

 

The only requirement is to seek presidential assent after the assembly and the legislative council passed the amended bill. It directed the principal secretary (Home) to take steps by placing the matter before authorities.

As per news paper report acid attack victims have asked the state government to bring an ordinance immediately to prevent the deadly acid attack on women.

 

Though the state government has announced that it will table a separate state act in the coming assembly sessions to prevent acid attacks on the line of the prevention of attacks(by acid)act,2008 , the acid attack victims insisted on a quick ordinance to make the offence non- bailable and also bring in measures to control acid sale.

 

Ms.Anuradha , one of the acid attack victim’s,said: “ I have been suffering for 13 years. There were 10 surgeries done on me. I still need 20 more . I fought in the supreme court against the state government which had said  the attack in a public place is not  its concern. An ordinance should be brought in.

 

The home minister,Ms.Sabita Indra Reddy ,said that Andhra Pradesh is the first state to respond to the center’s proposed acid attacks offences prevention bill. She also added that the state government would control acd sales.

 

Soon after state government announcement that it will table a separate state act to prevent acid attack on July 14, the tiruchanur police arrested a youth sudhakar(19) for threatening to throw acid on a school-girl manjula(15) if she spurned his love.

Atleast now the state government should act soon to curb the atrocities on women by enacting a separate sate act to prevent acid attack and by incorporating sec.326-A in IPC and by controlling the sale of acid in the state. The law enforcers should also perform their duties properly inorder to curb atrocities against women.

 

Inspite of constitutional guarantees to all Indian women equality{Art.14}, no discrimination by the state{Art.15(1)}. In addition , it allows special provision to be made by the state in favour of women and children {Art.15(3)}, renounce practices derogatory  to the dignity of women{Art.51(A)(e)} and some special legislation made exclusively for women like Dowry Prohibition Act and Domestic Violence Act, the Violence against women is increasing tremendously in Andhra Pradesh.

 

Time has come for the entire machinery of the government of Andhra Pradesh to act to curb the atrocities against women by taking all necessary steps to curb atrocities against women the most particularly the acid attacks which found its origin in colleges. The college authorities should strictly implement the rules mentioned in the “Andhra Pradesh prohibition of ragging in all educational institutions rules-2002” to have control over this menace.

 

No leniency should be given to the criminals who does such criminal acts because  the attitude of the criminal is just like demon     and the government either at a state or central they are the avataras to curb their acts by passing suitable legislation and imposing sentence of death whoever found guilty.

 

Preventive measures:

 

1)uniform dress code should be introduced at college levels also for alls tudents of the institution.

 

2)juniors and senior students college timings should be so fixed that they could not meet each other during college timings.

 

3)parents should take care of their children

 

4)the college authorities should warn the students if found guilty and inform it to their parents and what action could be taken for such act.

 

5)in coeducation strict discipline should be maintained. Any misbehavior  by any student should be punished as per law.

 

 

 

 

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