Monday (December 2): Lok Sabha today spoke against recent cases of rapes in various parts of the country, including one of the youngest veterinarian in Hyderabad.
Uttam Kumar Reddy (Cong) raised the issue of the rape and murder of the 26-year-old veterinarian and slammed the Telangana Home Minister for his purported “insensitive” remarks.
He also slammed the state police for initially delaying to lodge a case.
As soon as the House met for the day, Speaker Om Birla said he would allow members to raise the “serious issue” in Zero Hour.
T R Baalu (DMK) raised the issue of sexual assault of a school girl in Coimbatore.
Saugat Roy (TMC) said rape convicts should be hanged.
Pinaki Misra (BJD) questioned the delay in executing the death sentence awarded to convicts in the “Nirbhaya” gang-rape case.
He said laws and establishment on fast track courts will not make a differences till the time the death sentences are not executed.
On November 29, four men, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on charges of raping and killing the young woman veterinarian in Hyderabad.
Rapes in India:
Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India.
According to the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) 2013 annual report, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012. Out of these, 24,470 were committed by someone known to the victim (98% of the cases).
India has been characterised as one of the “countries with the lowest per capita rates of rape”. Many rapes go unreported in various countries including India.
In India, consensual sex given on the false promise of marriage constitutes rape. The willingness to report the rape has increased in recent years, after several incidents of rape received widespread media attention and triggered public protest. This led the Government of India to reform its penal code for crimes of rape and sexual assault.
According to NCRB 2015 statistics, Madhya Pradesh has the highest raw number of rape reports among Indian states, while Jodhpur in Rajasthan has the highest per capita rate of rape reports in cities followed by Delhi, the capital city.
