India needs serious legislation to protect women from rapists

NEW DELHI, India (Thu, Jan 17) – Reported by madn3wz

India needs serious legislation to protect women from rapists

The numbers of rape cases in India, highlighted by local and foreign media, have been increased intensively since the gang-rape of the 23-year-old medical student from Delhi in December last year.

One wonders how the number of rape cases can increase so abruptly. The fact clearly shows that such incidents were happening with the same frequency but were not spotlighted for any reason like undue influence of rapists or their families, low background of the victims etc.

According to a report published in forcechange.com; thousands of rapes and sexual assaults go unpunished and often unnoticed within India every year and only in Delhi there were 635 rape cases reported last year, yet only one ended in conviction.

Recently, a 17-year-old gang-rape victim from Indian Punjab finished her life after writing a suicide note on a page torn from a notebook that named her alleged attackers and accused them of destroying her life. The suicide of teenage victim once again highlighted the awful state of affairs of India's criminal justice system.

In a very recent case; a 7-year-old student was raped in a school toilet in Goa (yet again in India) by a 23-year-old. The headmistress of the school has been arrested by police for the negligence. The police have also announced a reward of Rs. 50,000 for any information that would lead to his arrest.  

But a rational question arises; are these steps enough to stop this vicious rape-culture in India? Every normal person thinks “No, not at all.” The solution requires a proper legislation and introduction of more stiff laws against the crimes like rape and molestation.

According to Hindustan Times; the Maharashtra state government is likely to amend the law to make crimes such as rape and molestation non-bailable, instead of waiting for the Centre to amend it. It also proposes to double jail term for such crimes, from the current seven to 14 years.

Indian legislators, from states to centre, have the responsibility to formulate and implement an effective legislation to stop such heinous crimes and deal the culprits iron handed.