Gujarat saw 2,633 rape cases, 31 gang rape and murders from 2017 to 2021; conviction rate dismal
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat has registered 2,633 cases of rape and 31 cases of gang rape and murder of women from the year 2017 to 2021.
However, only five people have been prosecuted for gang rape and murder of women according to the Government of India’s reply in the Lok Sabha.
Under the category of assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty, 4,820 cases have been reported in five years.
On July 25, 2023, various MPs inquired in the Lok Sabha whether incidences of harassment of women, including rape and murder, had escalated in the country.
In response, the Ministry of Home Affairs gave statistics on violence against women in India from 2017 to 2021.
According to Gujarat statistics, four cases of gangrape and murder of women were reported in 2017 but no one was convicted, in 2018, six cases of gangrape and murder were reported but no one was convicted, seven cases of gangrape and murder were reported but no one convicted in 2019, and 7 cases of gangrape and murder were reported but no one was punished in 2020. In 2021, seven gang rape and murder instances were reported, but only five people were prosecuted.
According to Meenakshi Joshi, convenor of ‘All India Women Sanskrutik Organization (All India MSS)’, “the state machinery is to blame for non-convictions in heinous crimes such as gang-rape since there are loopholes in the registration of FIRs. Importantly, under Section 164 of the Act, the survivor’s statement should be taken as quickly as possible, yet the state apparatus is frequently viewed as uninterested or slow. Another key factor I’ve noticed in most rape cases is that the accused is politically powerful; such people damage the case.”
Government statistics presented in the Lok Sabha states, 477 cases of rape were registered in Gujarat in 2017, with 37 people Convicted and 283 people acquitted; in 2018, 553 cases of rape were registered, with 20 people Convicted and 179 people acquitted; and in 2019, 528 cases of rape were registered. 31 persons were convicted and 165 were acquitted. In 2020, 486 rape cases were registered, with 8 individuals convicted and 77 people acquitted. In 2021, 589 rape cases were registered, with 14 individuals convicted and 134 people acquitted.
“Following the Nirbhaya rape case in Delhi, one-stop centers for rape cases were established at every police station, but the attitude of the people working there is not humanitarian; they lack the sensitivity required for their jobs, and the conviction rate reflects this,” said Meenakshi Joshi.
In Gujarat in 2017, 1058 incidents of assault on women with intent to outrage her Modesty were registered, with 43 convicted and 750 acquitted. In 2018, 1208 cases were filed, with 30 being convicted and 553 being acquitted. In 2019, 1048 cases were registered, with 37 being convicted and 641 being acquitted. 846 instances were recorded in 2020, with 8 convicted and 234 acquitted. In 2021, 660 instances were registered, with 24 being convicted and 370 being acquitted.
