Urgent action needed to end rape plague

The rape and murder of two village girls in Uttar Pradesh has overshadowed the first full working week of the new Indian Government as it gets down to business.

While the incident is primarily a State Government affair, it has wide implications in a country where a rape is reported every 22 minutes.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, in an apparent admission of his own police force’s inability to handle the case, has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a probe, a move that followed the families of the girls saying they had no faith in the impartiality of the local police.

One father is even claiming that the local Badaun District Police initially refused to investigate “because we were of low caste”.

New Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself of humble origins, has promised to confront the rape epidemic and engender greater respect for women. His first act after winning last month’s General Election was to kiss the feet and seek the blessing of his 95-year-old mother.

However, it will need more than symbolism to change attitudes, especially in the more remote villages where men see low-caste young women and girls as legitimate targets for their sexual pleasure.

The problem has its roots in decades of rural neglect. Badaun District villages have electricity for only nine hours each day and there is no sewerage system. The girls were raped and strangled after they had gone out into nearby fields at night to relieve themselves as there were no toilet facilities in the village – a situation that UNICEF estimates affects almost 50 per cent of the nation’s population.

During the election campaign, Modi advocated the building of communal toilet blocks within villages, where they could be monitored. Again, this is a State rather than Central Government responsibility.

And what are we to make of attitudes such as that portrayed by Chief Minister Yadav who, when questioned by a female reporter about the rapes replied: “You haven’t been harmed have you? No? Great. Thank you?”  

Modi has told his new Ministry to outline priorities for the first 100 days in their portfolios. At the top is reducing inflation, followed by initiatives in education, health, water, energy and roads.

Also included must be measures that at least start to address the prevalence of rape – a social evil that is besmirching the name of India in the international community.