Indian women are raped and forced to walk naked

2023-07-20 21:44:54

The images that gained national repercussion generate revolt in India: two women, naked, surrounded by a group of men, some armed with pieces of wood. As the Indian women are dragged by the violent mob to an open field, they cry and try to cover themselves, but to no avail.

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The case is treated as a kidnapping, collective rape and homicide, as the brother of one of them was killed trying to protect her. “We were forced to strip and parade or else they would have killed us,” they told a group of activists supporting the victims.

On social media, the Governor of Manipur, Biren Singh, said that until then he had not been aware of the video, which he defined as a “deeply disrespectful and inhumane” act. He added that the police acted “immediately” after becoming aware of the images and added that “there is no place for such heinous acts”. In the statement, Biren also promised that he will adopt “strict” measures for those responsible, including considering the possibility of the death penalty.

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The images, recorded in early May, have now taken over social networks and are a reason for revolt. In New Delhi, the session of the Indian Parliament was interrupted by lawmakers who demanded a discussion on the violence.

The Indian chief justice said the Supreme Court was “deeply disturbed by the images” and vowed to take action if the government fails to act.

In the background, there is an ethnic clash that broke out a few weeks ago in the state of Manipur. The victims are from the Kuki-Zo tribe, a predominantly Christian minority, and the criminals are said to be from the Meitei Hindu majority.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum condemned the crime which it called “sick” and denounced the ongoing violence in the region. “The gang rape of the women took place after the village was set on fire and two men – one middle-aged and the other a teenager – were beaten to death by the mob,” the statement said.

Women raped and forced to walk naked in India: conflict erupted in the state of Manipur

Part of the delay for the video to spread is explained by internet blockades in Manipur, a tactic that has been adopted by the Indian government in response to the local conflict. The state is home to 3.7 million people.

The dispute was prompted by a government proposal that increased the reservation of vacancies in public offices and in the education system for Meitei Hindus. The conflict has already left more than 130 dead and forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.

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The government remained silent until the repercussions of the video led the Prime Minister Narendra Modia Hindu nationalist, to condemn the violence against brutally attacked women, but without directly citing the ethnic conflict.

“The incident that came to light in Manipur, for a civilized society, is a disgrace,” said Modi, who has ruled India since 2014.

Narendra Modi has led India since 2014 | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Violence against women in India

The episode also exposes another problem in India: gender violence. A day after the video was recorded, two other Kuki-Zo women were locked in a room and raped by at least six men before being found dead, community members said.

In one of the most emblematic cases of violence suffered by women in India, 23-year-old Jyoti Singh was the victim of a collective rape by a New Delhi bus driver and five accomplices. After being raped, the student was thrown from the bus, naked, and died two weeks after the attack from the injuries she sustained. A crime that reverberated around the world, just over 10 years ago.

Revolted, Indian women demanded justice and faced police repression of protests. In response to the demonstrations, the government at the time reformed legislation to broaden the understanding of violence against women and instituted harsher punishments, including the death penalty. But none of this has had any effect in practice, as the numbers show.

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In 2012, the year of the protests, the country had 24,923 cases of rape. In 2021, the last record, the number of rapes jumped to 31,600, according to government data. This means that every day 86 women are raped in India. The reality must be even more cruel considering that many victims do not seek help out of fear or shame and rape is often an underreported crime.

The country arrived considered the most dangerous in the world for women, according to a 2018 Thomson Reuters Foundation survey.

A recent example of this constant state of violence against women was the brutal murder of a teenage girl in New Delhi just over a month ago. The 16-year-old girl was the victim of 34 stab wounds in a busy area of ​​the Indian capital. The one-minute video recorded by a security camera showed several people walking down the street, doing nothing, as the teenager was stabbed.

According to information from the local press, the man arrested for the crime stated in a statement that he had known the teenager for two years and was furious when she decided to end the relationship. The police chief treated the case as a “crime of passion”.

Magazine West, with information from State Agency

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