The Hathras Rape Case : How a Dalit identity has made women victims to violence

A woman in India is raped every 15 minutes.

I present this horrifying statistic to you merely two days post Daughter's day, and it is evident how India has gifted its daughters, by truly becoming a place not safe for its women.

Social media has been outraged lately, and Indians have come onto the streets in protest following the brutal rape and murder of a 19 - year old woman from Hathras. If the unsettling incident had not been disturbing enough, another 22 years old, allegedly gang-raped, succumbed to her injuries in Balrampur.

Though these cases are surely horrifying instances of gender-based violence, these victims represent another deep-rooted issue in India, the brooding caste problem. Both the girls were Dalits,  part of a group lying at the bottom of the hierarchy in the social system who still experience severe discrimination in India, with Dalit women being at the receiving end of a plethora of heinous crimes. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2019, nearly ten Dalit women are raped every day in the country with the highest ones being recorded in UP. Once again, these are just those that actually get reported.

In these instances, rape has been used as a tool of power by members of the so-called "upper - caste." In most cases, the price of the "audacity" of a Dalit to speak up against oppression is paid by the women, as rape or sexual assault is considered to be sufficient insult for the family, with the body of a woman being torn apart under the cruel guise of dispute. The Human Rights Watch organisation also reported that often sexual violence in rural areas is linked to debt bondage, with this report highlighting that police and landlords made use of this to inflict political lessons. The worst is reflected in these statistics. In 26.5 per cent violence against Dalit women, the perpetrators and those supporting them, including members of the upper caste prevent the victims from obtaining justice. In 17.4 per cent, even the police obstructed justice. This has been evidenced by the Hathras Case, in which the police claimed, even after medical reports, that the girl had not to be raped.

It is imperative to realise that caste-based crimes are a reality in India, and shrugging them off wouldn't erase their existence. As women already suffer through an ordeal in our country, the bitter poison of casteism has killed hopes of a progressive India as well. Madosa, Lakhimpur, Unnao, and now Hathras and Balrampur, caste-based violence will continue to take lives with it, even those other than women. Unless, of course, our mainstream focus falls upon this issue and the loopholes in our system. Courts, administration, police and society - All choose to ignore the suffering of oppressed castes. Only if this ancient structural division stops, will we move forward. Otherwise, this silent killer will continue to cast its a dark shadow over the country for times to come.

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Writer: Mannat kandal

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