Nirbhaya instills courage in rape victims

LUCKNOW: The nationwide outrage against the police and politicians after Nirbhaya gang-rape in Delhi seems to have started showing results. The Uttar Pradesh Police (UPP) has seen a 50% rise in rape cases reported to them since the brutal incident that took place on December 16. Besides, 25% increase has also been registered in crime against women since December 17.Police top brass admits that more than the change in their response, it is the courage shown by victims in lodging cases that has brought about this change.
"Instructions were always there for cops to register an FIR on every complaint of crime against women that reaches them. It is just that the cops are taking the orders more seriously now after the Nirbhaya case," said additional director of police (ADG) Law & Order and Crime Arun Kumar. "At the same time the senior officials, too, are keeping a regular watch on the issue and I have issued instructions that in case of lapses, it is not only the police station that will be held accountable, but the supervising authorities too will have to share the blame," ADG said.
Arun Kumar, however, credits the victims and their families for showing courage in coming forward and lodging cases. "Earlier, there were instances where the victims tried to avoid reacting to sexual assault until something serious happened, but that is no longer the case now. I have reasons to believe that the victims too are responding at the right time and right manner," ADG said.
Statistics reveal that 75 cases of rape were lodged with the UP Police during the second half of December 2012 as compared to 50 and 40 cases during the corresponding period in 2011 and 2010 respectively. A total of 163 cases of molestation, 325 of kidnapping and 92 cases of sexual assault were reported between December 16 and 31. These statistics show a minimum of 13% increase in the number of cases lodged under different heads as compared to the same period in 2011 and 2010.
What makes the change more noticeable is the fact that in the first half of December 2012, before Nirbhaya incident happened, there was no such jump in cases of rape, molestation or sexual harassment as compared to the corresponding figures of 2011 and 2010.
Nothing explains the difference better than a recent incident that took place in Ghaziabad which led to the arrest of three coaching students for attempting to molest a fellow student at gunpoint. The victim, a 17-year-old resident of Rajapur, was facing regular humiliation at the hands of three local youths. The harassment, that started as obscene passes when she joined the coaching six months ago, became more humiliating. In her statement to the police and the media, the victim revealed how she got her class timings shifted to join another batch to avoid facing the accused. But that didn't help much.
"I told my mother about it. She advised me to simply ignore those goons as lodging a report against them would expose me to risk once they would be out on bail after arrest. I heeded to the advice. But now it seems that our silence was only encouraging them," she told the police, adding: "They had not only tried to molest me but had even grabbed my hand and tried to force me into a moving car …. This was too much to tolerate."
"I was pleasantly surprised when I went to lodge a complaint with the local police about the nuisance that a group of hoodlums had been creating near our house. The cops not only took my complaint but immediately rounded up the accused. They also agreed to book them on the basis of a police complaint as well," says Aarti Singh, a school teacher in Lucknow. "One may find it difficult to believe but I know about an incident when my neighbour had gone to lodge a similar complaint last year, only to told to either identify and name the accused or else leave the complaint and go," Aarti says.