Why can’t I walk alone?

One of the greatest tragedies is that women are on their own vis-a-vis their safety. The strength of democracy and the quality of life enjoyed by the fairer sex is largely determined by the ability of the police to discharge its duties honourably and independently

What is moral? And what constitutes morality? Do one’s morals end where another’s nose begins? Sizzling questions which have stripped India of all open-mindedness, equilibrium and tolerance to expose the Ugly Inhuman Indian Male.

Sad state of affairs

• Crimes against women more than doubled in last decade
• 2.24 mn crimes against women seen over the past decade
• 26 crimes every hour or one complaint every 2 minutes
• There were over 4,70,556 molestation cases
• 315,074 kidnappings took place during the period
• Rapes number about 2,43,051, insult to modesty: 1,04,151
• 80,833 dowry deaths; Over 2 mn girls go missing a year

Else, how could we allow women to be stalked, pawed and molested by a few drunk men at a street party on Bengaluru famous MG Road on New Year's Eve. Why? For “violating traditional Indian norms.” But this is not the end of their ordeal. Nobody tried to stop the inebriated men who chased the women, some of them breaking down on camera.

More followed. In another incident the same night two men brutally attacked a woman going home and tried to grope her breasts. The cause? She was walking alone. Sic. Worse, a group of people watching this refused to intervene. Ditto, a case in the national Capital.

The anger and indignation coursing through the streets of India is palpable but their plaintive cries for justice boomerang as our netas ensconced in their fortified houses care only for themselves.

Shockingly, instead of being apologetic and ensuring that cities are safe for the fairer sex, Karnataka’s Home Minister blamed “western culture” averring “these things do happen”. Really? Added another, “The more skin women show it is like if there's gasoline, there will be fire. If there's spilt sugar, ants will gravitate towards it for sure.” Disgusting, to say the least.

In an era when political image is branded like detergents, our netas completely disregard the fact that they have failed miserably in making our cities safe for its people. Crimes against women have more than doubled over the past ten years, according to the National Crime Records Bureau’s latest data.

As many as 2.24 million crimes against women were reported over the past decade: 26 crimes every hour or one complaint every two minutes. There were over 470,556 molestation cases, 315,074 kidnappings followed by rape 243,051, insult to modesty 104,151, dowry death 80,833 and 66% women experienced sexual harassment between two and five times during 2015.

Women are stalked, teased and grabbed from behind as men are getting more violent. And when a man sees a courageous girl he gets more aggressive to show he is macho and has ‘power’. Think. One rape every 30 minutes.

Sadly, such is the state of affairs we are immune to women being snatched off the streets and gang-raped in moving cars. In a survey conducted by a London firm of 150 safe cities, New Delhi and Mumbai are ranked 139 and 126 at the bottom of the heap.

Last year’s police records show rape registered a 9.2% rise over 2014 of which more than half (54.7%) of the victims were aged between 18 and 30 and Delhi accounted for over 17% of the total number of rape cases. Abductions of were up 19.4%, torture by 5.4%, molestation by 5.8% and trafficking by an alarming 122%.

Add to this, the police too are rooted in the same moribund mindset. This is not all. Female foetuses are aborted and baby girls killed after birth, leading to an appallingly skewed sex ratio. Over two million girls go missing in a given year and are sold to the highest brothel bidder.

One of the greatest tragedies is that women are on their own vis-a-vis their safety. The strength of democracy and the quality of life enjoyed by the fairer sex is largely determined by the ability of the police to discharge its duties honourably and independently. Will women continue to constitute the weaker gender? Continue to rot at the hands of lecherous drunk men? A time to introspect.

By Poonam I Kaushish