India is the only country where woman is considered as ‘Matru-shakti’ and is worshipped, treating her as goddess. Living abroad many women mention how this is so unique in India. However as we agonize over the happenings in this nation, it has become extremely painful to bear what is going on, the incidents of brutal violence against women have become a regular affair. We hear how young girls and women can be easily set on fire, how they can be pulled from bus stops in broad daylight and gang-raped, how they can be gang-raped/murdered/burnt without recognition and thrown away like piece of garbage, how acid can be thrown at their face and bodies with little impunity, how minor girls lured into love jihad and left behind, we cannot help wonder what is going on in this country? It is a country that lost its moorings, particularly its institutions, the political, the police, the judiciary and even the media.
Rape and sexual violence against women in India has received more attention since the widely-reported gang rape and murder of a student in the capital, Delhi, in 2012.
Shocking Numbers
Official figures show a significant increase in the number of rape cases being reported to the police since then, from just under 25,000 in 2012 to more than 38,000 in 2016. Government figures for 2017 show that, on average, there were more than 90 rapes a day reported.
According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, there were 33,658 reported cases of rape and sexual assault in India in 2017. About half of victims were from the 18-30 age group. Also, in 2017, the police in all states and UTs were investigating a total of 46,984 cases of rape. This indicates that several thousand cases were pending investigation from the previous years. In 2017, there were 331 cases across the country of rape and gang rape victims also being murdered.
The NCRB data also shows that 93.1% of all rape and sexual assault victims were attacked by known people, including family members, neighbours, friends, employers and romantic partners. In 2017, “strangers” were accused in 2,289 cases. However, the same NCRB report shows that only 43,197 persons were arrested for rape/sexual assault in 2017, and only 38,534 charge-sheeted and made to face trial.
As of March 2018, there were 1,66,882 cases of rape and those lodged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act-2012 pending trial across the country. As of August 2019, POCSO cases alone stood at 1,60,989. Conviction rates remain low across the country due to the huge pendency of cases and delays in investigation and prosecution.
Some incidents that moved the country
Brutal rape and murder at Gujarat and West Bengal rattle whole country
Delhi gangrape : Nirbhaya’s juvenile rapist walks free, parents forced to fight for law
Hyderabad Rape Case : A veterinarian was gang-raped and murdered
Muzaffarnagar: Acid thrown at rape victim for refusing to withdraw case
Here are some points to ponder upon
Does chanting women empowerment magically stop the crimes against women? Or should we have a pragmatic approach? Watch the video and tell us what you think. pic.twitter.com/6jFHpnhbdz
— Upword (@upword_) December 10, 2019
Need for speedy Justice System and stringent punishment
Even 7 years after a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was brutally gang-raped and killed on a moving bus in South Delhi, in spite of so much furore, protests and chest-beating by millions in the country and her parents running from pillar to post, we have a system that waits forever to hang the culprits. The juvenile who was supposed to have perpetrated the most heinous of the acts was allowed to go free.
Seven years on, little has changed. Thousands of cases await trial – and the numbers are spiralling by the day – because of gaping loopholes in India’s criminal justice system like massive shortages of forensic labs, fast-track courts and investigators, despite tall promises made by the government, a Mail Today deep-dive has found. The revelation comes at a time there’s a nationwide outrage after four men gang-raped and burnt alive a 26-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad.
One small country Singapore with just 58 lakh people sent 400 convicts to gallows in just a decade, and that too mostly on drug charges, while India with a population of 12,000 lakh people and with the worst of crimes did not hang the demons from Nirbhaya case for the last 7 years. Singapore canes (whipping) thousands every year even for theft and burglary while we feed the most brutal rapists mutton biryani in our jails using taxpayers’ money.
A rapist was given stringent punishment under the regime of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by cutting off his hands and legs. Such punishment should be given even now and that too immediately in front of people, was the response from our politicians after incident of Bhagyanagar.
Need a complete ban on Porn and Obscene Websites and Broadcasting !
It is observed that there is again increase in incidents of molestation of women since the incident of gang-rape of a lady-doctor at Bhagyanagar. There are many reasons for such increase and one of which is, increase in viewership of porn-sites in India. Political leaders of various parties and eminent social personalities are once again insisting on imposing ban on such porn – sites.
- Many people, from small children to youth members view these porn-sites on their cell-phones.
- Some people even make viral indecent pictures or videos of rape etc on social media.
- 80 lakh people of this country tried to surf on Google, name of the aggrieved woman after Bhagyanagar incident.
- Pictures of half-clad film actresses, models etc are posted on websites of several renowned newspapers.
It shows that more and more people are getting addicted to view such porn-sites and there is increase in promiscuity in society. The Union Government imposed ban on 857 porn-sites and child-pornography sites in last October; even then, these addicts are watching such porn-sites through ‘Virtual Private Network (VPN)’; in fact, there is 405% increase in viewership of the same. It shows that such websites have found a way despite ban. How can these websites be opened again even if banned by Government in India? Why is there no control of anyone on them? What is done by the Government Administration? Hasn’t the Administration seen to it that banned websites wouldn’t be opened through different means?
Effects of porn-sites
There was 6% increase in cases of offences against women in this country in the year 2017. In 2017, there were 3, 59, 849 cases registered all over the country. Though it is difficult to say exact role of such porn-sites in these kinds of crimes but it is certain that such perverted licentious porn websites were the cause of most of such crimes. It would not be wrong to say that future of today’s youth and consequently, future of this country is in danger due to their watching such websites. Parents are therefore, under mental stress or tension due to the same. As per a survey conducted in schools-colleges by a voluntary organization from Karnataka, 30% children watch ‘violent porn’ and they watch around 19 videos of rape in a week. A student watches 4900 rapes till he goes for higher education. 76% children said that by watching rapes, they too felt like raping someone; while 74% children said that they felt like going to prostitutes. 10% among these children become active which shows that effect of porn-sites is so dangerous. Out of these perverted acts, they indulge in rape; make videos of raping and upload them on social media. Some of them go even further and kill the aggrieved woman or burn her alive; leading to increase even in such types of crimes. On one hand, woman is considered as ‘Matru-shakti’ under Indian culture and is worshipped, treating her as goddess; while on the other hand, women are molested under influence of western perversity and immorality.
Need for ban !
Banned porn-websites are easily available through ‘VPN’, “Proxy browsing’ and other means. Today, through VPN mobile AP, many porn-sites or their APs are downloaded and porn videos are watched through them. The Government administration has all machinery and skilled manpower available; but they need to use their brain power to the fullest for outsmarting others. If an ordinary citizen, using internet facility is using some trick to watch banned websites, government administration should try to use its knowledge in better way to stop people watching such websites. VPN facility is offered free of cost in India and users’ data is used by AP-operators to earn money. One solution is to impose ban on all types of online websites involved in prostitution and the other is uprooting mental perversion to stop rape and molestation of women.
Need control over Increasing Obscenity in Bollywood and Media
Obscenity is a kind of mind pollution and a social problem affecting the society at large. It can be defined as any picture, photograph, figure, article, write up, video, etc. or a public act which depraves or corrupts the mind and which appeals to the prurient interests or which is against the acceptable social moral standards would be called obscene and vulgar.
A. Off late, the Media has played a major role in promoting obscenity by way of semi-nude ads, video-graphy, news in the form of soft-porn and much more. They are certainly putting at stake the values of an entire generation just for a little more circulation, readership, viewership and a little more money.
B. With the change in Bollywood cinema, screenplay, acting and everything else over the last century, there is one thing that been consistent and prominent, it is the obscenity in the films. Although technically speaking, even that has increased drastically, there is no improvement to this area of Bollywood as there is to others like writing, direction etc.
Today, there is an increasing amount of actors showing skin bringing them at a closer number to the actresses. There is a fine line between what skin showing as art and cinema and vulgarity and obscenity, which your industry often fails to understand. The way this industry objectifies women, actresses in what is often called critically acclaimed movies and item numbers is the cause of concern. People see and enjoy these movies and songs often failing to understand the effects it would have on young minds.
People blame the industry and call these item numbers and movies corrupt and having a bad effect on your minds, however they dont realize that they are also found dancing to these item numbers, encouraging kids to perform on these songs at auspicious events and become the part of this vicious cycle.
Obscenity is affecting us, our children, the various facets of a society, here’s how:
Women and children are the worst hit by the growth and exposure to obscenity. There is a direct link between the violence being shown in media and the actual act of violence against women. The cases of molestation, sexual harassment and rape are on the rise contributing to this is the constant bombardment of sex, nudity and violence in the media.
Obscenity is also leading to the young generation’s growing interest in indulging in sexual activities, further causing problems such as premarital sex, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and much more. Future threats of an open show of obscenity could be as harmful as the loss of ethics in the coming generations.
In a country where marriage is considered a pure bond and sex serves a valuable purpose of sharing love and purity, obscenity is getting this bond a new meaning of an animal act, for the purpose of fulfilling one’s sexual needs — the female body becoming a mere object.
Need for regulation of Video Games in India
Video games have replaced many traditional childhood pastimes as the leisure activity of choice. Children are spending more time and money on electronic entertainment than ever before. In fact, video game use has steadily increased throughout the past than ever before.
Video games are popular social artefacts with the potential to shape players’ behaviours, attitudes, and identities. The growing popularity of games makes it essential to study their content and effects. Specifically, it is important to study the characters and themes of games. There is both anecdotal and scientific evidence that playing video games affects player’ attitude and behaviour. This is particularly a concern because many games contain violence and the level of violence in games may be increasing. Such concerns have led a few lawmakers to attempt to regulate video games. Video games comprise an increasingly large part of young people’s time; they (Video games) have also emerged as an important source of learning and socialization that significantly affects the modern experience of childhood. It is only the violent and sexual content of video games that led many countries to ban even world famous video games such as GTA, Custer’s’ Revenge, RapeLay, Command & Conquer: Generals, Bully, The Guy Game etc. In spite of the fact that there are so many National and International Instruments which advocates the prohibition the indecent representation of women, the commercialisation of vulgar, obscene and indecent portrayal of women’s figure in video games is at its peak to attract more players.
Pornography and video games are pretty much the same thing, according to a sensational editorial published on CNN today called ‘The Demise of Guys: How Videogames and Porn are Ruining a Generation.’ However, games and porn may not be the same, but they are equally damaging to young men, destroying their ability to connect with women, and therefore threatening the future of our entire species.
Need to teach Morality and ‘Dharmacharan’
Going a step further, however, there is need to teach morality and ‘Dharmacharan’ as per Hindu Dharma to people. ‘Dharmacharan’ will lead to increase in ‘sattvikata’ in society and such incidents can be prevented; therefore, it has become imperative to teach moral values, along with other regular subjects till college education !
Source : Dainik Sanatan Prabhat, India Today, OpIndia, India Alive, Youth Ki Awaaz, ItForChange,
