The Gujarat State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has expressed serious concerns over increasing incidents of crime and domestic violence against women. The commission conducted a study on the number of cases of atrocities against the weaker sections of the society, particularly against people belonging to scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) across the state.
The SHRC study revealed that the number of crime against women in Gujarat has gone up to 16,067 in 2008 from 12,602 recorded in 2001. Ahmedabad city tops the list with 2,715 crimes in 2008, followed by Surat (629), Junagadh (607), Bhavnagar (601), Rajkot rural (492) and Banaskantha (426).
In the past one year alone, as many as 359 cases of rape, 1,041 cases of kidnapping, 284 cases of murder, 857 cases of molestation, 1,840 cases of suicide, 3,166 cases of accidental deaths, 28 cases of dowry deaths and 6,093 incidents involving physical and mental torture of women were registered in different parts of the state.
In 2007-2008, the SHRC said it received, “as many as 117 complaints relating to various crimes committed against women. These included complaints of rape, kidnapping, murder, gender bias, dowry deaths, demand for dowry and exploitation.” The commission received 67 more complaints in 2007-2008 as compared to 2006-07.
A total of 1,159 cases relating to atrocity committed against SCs and another 199 cases of atrocity against STs were reported from across the state in 2007-2008. The SHRC received 37 complaints of atrocity against the SC/ST communities, of which 27 had been disposed off. The commission had recommended the authorities concerned to take action against the offenders and protect the weaker sections of the society.
Referring to incidents of violation by human rights by the policemen, the Navsarjan Trust had recommended the higher authorities to initiate department inquiry and punitive action against ‘erring’ cops. According to a source in the SHRC, the commission received as many as 394 cases of violation in 2007-08, which included 91 cases relating to ‘misuse of power’ (by the police), 23 cases of false implication and another 233 cases where the police failed to take legal measures.
Kantilal Parmer, a member of the Navsarjan Trust, said, “There has been an increase in the number of cases relating to molestation, sexual exploitation and dowry, resulting in suicide and accidental deaths. Moreover, investigation done by the law enforcement agencies in such cases is halfhearted, which is also one of the reasons why a lot of complaints are not filed at the police stations. For most women, finding a public prosecutor is a challenge.”
Incidentally, to mark Human Rights Day on Thursday, the manhole workers’ unions organised a human chain and staged a demonstration near Town Hall. The unions called for a joint platform for taking action against injustice.
Zakir Qazi, member of the Swasthya Suraksha Mandal, said, “The demonstration is staged to make people aware about their rights. How can we call the state Swarnim Gujarat?”
