Eve-teasing, Molestation, Sexual Abuse and Rape: Exploitation to Casteism to aggravate rape 

Eve-teasing, Molestation, Sexual Abuse and Rape: Exploitation to casteism to aggravate rape

Sakshi Kumari 

Historically it has been observed that casteism has always been a conflicting concept in Indian society and lower castes and lower tribal communities are majorly facing major ostracism regarding casteism.

These people have been encountering violence by the dominant upper communities in the name of “violating social norms “: such as entering temples, untouchability, land disputes etc.

Thus, women belonging to lower caste and lower tribal communities are becoming easy targets for violence by the dominant upper caste communities to showcase their dominance over them.

Majorly analyzed violence against women belonging to lower caste and tribe includes – sexual violence such as rape, outraging modesty, assault or use of criminal force to women with the intent to disrobe.

But the argument arises why the word “caste” is still used when it comes to sexual violence with lower caste and lower tribal communities although sexual violence is seen as an offense against the whole community of women.

INTRODUCTION : When India is in conversation its diversity is something which cannot be disregarded . It is a plural society in its culture and with such an  immense assortment India has became a hub of diversity .

Amalgamation of   diverse cultural heritage make India unique from the rest of the world and the lives of Indians are enriched by this variety . The country is home to several diverse communities ,each of whom has their own traditions .Its diversity is unbeatable from clothing to distinct languages and splendid art forms .

Despite of the fact that India is such a huge diversity, citizens of India still live together  and practice distinct norms , customs ,and culture  when it comes to their personal belief, making them different from each other .

Thus,It is observed that Hinduism is seen as the most diverse religion in India . Hinduism reflects tremendous theologies , sacred texts and practices which gives evidence for its diverseness .

“They were paraded naked,their clothes were ripped off ,they were beaten to death and this was not enough before beaten to death they were tortured ghastly even the brother of Priyanka was forcefully ask to have sex with her ,when denied was brutally beaten to death ,bullock cart pokers were thrust into the vaginas of both women ,Priyanka was raped even after her death .Evidence were destroyed before the CBI could took over the case.Their postmortem reports were skeptically ruled out .”

So it is not complex to say that the vivid nature of Hinduism helps  to highlight its multifariousness .For instance the Varna System ,it is the perfect highlight to represent the vivid caste hierarchy in India .

 It has been observed that the concept of Varna system in India  existed for quite a long time .   

 “ The first mention of Varna is found in the Purusha Suktam verse of ancient Sanskrit Rig Veda’’-which found its existence in the 15th century.

It is believed that the term ‘Caste’ came into use in the 15th century for the first time by Portuguese seafarers but it is a foreign term for Indians as the term ‘Varna’ was originally used by Indians .

As per Rig Veda the creator of 4 varna is Lord Brahma. Each Varna vault from the body parts of the Lord . Brahmins originate from his mouth and they worked upon the spiritual needs of the society thus they were considered as learned men and used to perform their duty by guiding those who ruled the society .

The Kshatriyas emerge from the arms and were the warrior class or the ruling class .

The Vaishyas evolved from the thighs and were comprised of the merchants, artisans and craftsmen.

The Shudras which is the last varna developed from his feet and they were considered as a base for the ancient Indian  society and were occupied by work of artisans and laborers . Thus ,the varna system was solely based on occupation .

Not only Rig Veda but Dharmashastra along with Vajrasuchi Upanishad and Buddhist texts are various other sources as evidence to prove that Varna System is solely based on occupation . 

“A well known case which exemplifies this situation is of “HATHRAS RAPE CASE” this incident sparked outraged across the nation . In 2020 ,she was a 19 year old from Hathras Uttar Pradesh who was allegedly raped by 4 upper caste men while she went out to collect fodder for cattles she was dragged into the field and suffered grievous injuries on her spine,her legs were paralyzed and tounge was cutted off ,this was her condition when found out by her mother. She was referred to hospitals in Delhi but survived only for 14 days. Her body was burned at midnight without the permission of her family by police.”

Now the question arises is it fair to consider only these four 4 varnas as because apart from this there exist other communities as well and one of which is Atishurdas or (untouchables) which are not even mentioned in the varna system but this  does not give us freedom to  become violent towards  people who are shudra and atishudras nor  does this give us and people of higher varna the  liberty to discriminate shudras and  ati shudras (untouchables) on the basis of their caste based occupation or on the basis of their caste just because they come from lower varna or from ati -shudra community .

Historically it  has been observed that people belonging to lower caste communities have been facing major challenges in surviving under this varna system as upper caste communities of varna system have been becoming more dominant over these lower caste communities forgetting that the roots of Varna system was solely based on occupational division of society for it proper or smooth functioning .

The dominance of upper caste communities over the lower castes has not only turned as discriminatory but is more violent towards them. Discrimination based on education and occupation seems limited unless we  explore the violence over lower caste communities .

Sexual violence is used as weapon againt women belonging to lower castes such sexual offences includes  brutal crime such as rape ,outraging modesty ,assault or use of criminal force to women with the intent to disrobe .Women becomes easy targets for such offenders to prove their dominance over lower caste communities .

This research paper will highlight such neglected issue where lower caste women are becoming victims of  sexual violence by the upper caste communities .

“As a result she was gang  raped by Ramkaran Gujjars and his 5 friends infront of her husband,even male doctor decline to survey her at primary health centre ,she was asked by the policeman to leave her lehnga as evidence of the incident after that she was only left with her husband’s dhoti with booldstain to wrap her body . In this case the Trial court decided to set the accused individuals free after determining that they were not guilty of the charges .”

PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE

This article determines to highlight the use of sexual abuse as weapon againt the women belonging to lower caste communities by the higher caste communities perpetrator. This article reflects caste -based rape as tactic used by the higher caste perpetrator to commit such brutal offence to keep the lower caste communities subordinate to them .Thus, body of lower caste women are targeted to showcase dominance by higher caste perpetrator.

Further this article  will spot light on these issues in more detail and will demonstrate circumstances of victims when they suffered such offenses.

SIGNIFICANCE 

It is of important to note that lower caste women are majorly  becoming victims of caste – based violence , they are being barbaricly raped and are facing humiliating social degradation every now and then. It is of utmost importance to bring up such subjects on societal platforms so as to understand the impact of such offenses on the whole society and not on a particular individual. 

It  notably spot light on how lower caste women are getting victimized by triple fold violence i.e; based on caste , class ,and gender within India.This paper crucially highlight the victimization of such women not only for coming from lower varna but also for  facing patriarchal dominance for being women by higher caste men if raised any question against them.

This article significantly helps us to understand the demeaning  status of lower caste women and their castigation by higher caste communities.

MAIN CONTENT

 The incident of caste- based violence and caste based rape has been rising exponentially in India due to constant neglect of this subject matter .

Violence based on gender against women is not a one time incident in India , equivalently sexual violence against lower castes women are also not just confined to rape or sexual harassment against women rather it  is seen as a  systematic violence against lower castes community while targeting body of women belonging to such community .

The perpetrators belonging to higher caste communities are becoming so habituated to  persecution of lower caste women that they are even losing their fear of getting punished by law due to their blind fold credentials of higher caste dominance.

Here ,we need to understand that when we talk about lower caste women it does include young girls who are getting victimized by brutal offenses of rape and sexual violence which is often accompanied by other types of violence such as murder, assault, gang rape ,kidnapping, mass attack ,social boycott, arson ,false case,witch hunting etc and the most often committed offenses against these women includes-gang rape, witch hunting, and mass attack.

Even in educational institutions , girls belonging to lower castes  are subjected to gender and caste based sexual abuse. They are sexually harassed as a lesson for getting admissions  into educational institutions as the so-called casetists are of the opinion that it is against the caste norms. Also  after criminalization of untouchability and casteism this is something which is still  practiced openly in India without the fear of law .

In the name of untouchability (criminalized offense) ,lower caste people are not allowed to get  in touch with higher caste communities yet when in need of laborers they  asked these people to work on their farms in villages and if any women ask to increase wage amounts from higher caste men for their work they are raped by them .Is this fair to practice untouchability and then using women’s body as target for sexual abuse to showcase patriarchal dominance of upper caste men? 

A well known case which exemplifies this situation is of “HATHRAS RAPE CASE” this incident sparked outraged across the nation . In 2020 ,she was a 19 year old from Hathras, Uttar Pradesh who was allegedly raped by 4 upper caste men while she went out to collect fodder for cattles she was dragged into the field and suffered grievous injuries on her spine,her legs were paralyzed and tounge was cutted off ,this was her condition when found out by her mother.

She was referred to hospitals in Delhi but survived only for 14 days. Her body was burned at midnight without the permission of her family by police. This case is not enough to prove the brutality of the upper caste perpetrator. In this case the court held that the prime culprit Sandeep Sisodia was found guilty and was given life imprisonment .

The court convicted him under section 304 of Indian Penal Code ,which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder .He was also fined with rupees 50,000 along with the Sections of Scheduled caste and Scheduled tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act ,1989. However the remaining three accused were acquitted by the court due to insufficient evidence against them .

But who was responsible for this insufficient evidence?

When this case was referenced to CBI ,it was said that “due to negligence of police there was delay in the medical examination of the 19 year old victim which led to the loss of crucial evidence. Neither Section 354 (use of force with intention to rape) of the Indian Penal Code or Section 376 (rape) of the IPC was added by the police in the beginning,” CBI said.

OTHER CASE LAWS 

BHANWARI DEVI CASE : 

Bhanwari devi who belonged to the Kumar community was a social activist/worker in a village of Rajasthan and was working with a program named Saathin under Women’s Development Project run by the Government of Rajasthan. This case is of the year 1992 .

Bhanwari devi tried to stop child marriage of an infant daughter of Ramkaran Gujjars ( thakur )who was merely less than one year . As a result she was gang  raped by Ramkaran Gujjars and his 5 friends infront of her husband,even male doctor decline to survey her at primary health centre , she was asked by the policeman to leave her lehnga as evidence of the incident after that she was only left with her husband’s dhoti with booldstain to wrap her body .

In this case the Trial court decided to set the accused individuals free after determining that they were not guilty of the charges . However, the High Court in its judgment held that sexual assault took place in the context of revenge. Later when appeal was made to the Supreme Court, the Court  gave landmark judgment for the same case setting new guidelines.

The Supreme court’s judgment highlight that sexual harassment of women at work place violates women’s fundamental rights under the Constitution of India including Artilce 14 i.e;(right to equality)and Article 21 (right to life and dignity).

The court held that each and every work place must provide a safe environment,free from sexual harassment,for all the employees. “After this case, the Supreme Court made the term Sexual harassment well defined, accordingly any physical touch or conduct, showing of pornography, any unpleasant taunt or misbehavior, or any sexual desire towards women, sexual favor will come under the ambit of sexual harassment.”

KHAIRLANJI CASE 

This case is of the year 2006 .It is a tragic incident which shook the entire nation .This incident occurred in Khairlanji village in Maharashtra which imply the barbaric torture ,sexual assault and murder of the members of Dalit Bhudhhist family by individuals from dominant caste .This family’s success and their support to their community member provoked resentment from the dominant castes.

On September 2006, Surekha Bhotmange (mother ) and her daughter Priyanka along with her two sons Sudhir and Roshan were forcibly dragged out their home .

They were paraded naked, their clothes were ripped off ,they were beaten to death and this was not enough before beaten to death they were tortured ghastly even the brother of Priyanka was forcefully ask to have sex with her ,when denied was brutally beaten to death ,bullock cart pokers were thrust into the vaginas of both women ,Priyanka was raped even after her death .

Evidence were destroyed before the CBI could took over the case. Their postmortem reports were skeptically ruled out .

In judgment of this case the judge held that he did not found any grounds for invoking provisions of the Scheduled  Caste and  Scheduled Tribes (Preventions of Atrocities)Act ,1989 popularly know as POA Act .

Not only this even Section -354( Assault or criminal force with the intent to outrage the modesty of woman )of INDIAN PENAL CODE along with Section – 375 that deals with rape were not taken into consideration. Lower courts judgment for death  imprisonment of culprits was commuted by the High Court on the grounds that it was “not rarest of the rare case “the punishment of the  culprit of this case was reduced to 25 years of imprisonment. 

The list of cases will not end here if  we go on elaborating this particular subject matter .But the question arises ,how much the women of lower caste communities will have suffer in the name of caste- based violence .

WHY THE TERM CASTE IS USED WHEN RAPE IS SEEN AS CRIMINAL OFFENCE  AGAINST THE WHOLE COMMUNITY OF WOMEN ?

So ,the answer for such question is that rape is used as a weapon by the higher caste perpetrator to impose and flaunt their dominance over the lower caste communities. It is one way or the other ,framing a systematic chain of crime over the lower caste communities .

Thus resulting in victimization of lower caste women .It is the lower caste women who have to face Atrocities by the upper caste perpetrator in the name of casteism. Therefore when the question arises on why the term caste is used when it’s a subject matter of rape of a women this is the answer for what is found after the study on this topic.

RESULTS AND FINDINGS 

Through this study  it has been found that lower caste women have to suffer challenges in registration of cases and police is often found responsible for causing delays in registration of cases .Appropriate sections of  PoA Act are not invoked when FIR is launched as police deliberately try not to invoke section of ST/SC Act with the view to protect higher caste perpetrators and weaken the case of lower caste women .

The caste and gender prejudice leads to biased investigation resulting in unjustified outcome for lower caste women .This majorly ends in removing relevant legal act from the chargesheet and delay in arrest of offenders which  further results in exposing  the identity of the victims and their family due to which the chances of harm and attack on the victim and their family get increased.

Therefore, the demand for fair and unbiased investigation is an urgent need to ensure justice and protection for women of lower caste communities. 

SUGGESTIONS 

1.Government and judiciary should take strict action against those who are responsible for making gambling of evidence in cases.

2.The government should adopt strategies to stop  violence by recognizing communities that are particularly vulnerable.such as lower caste women .

3.This also includes creating maps of regions prone to such atrocities .The aim is to enhance the safety of women and children, protecting them from violence rooted in both gender and caste-based biases.

4. Number of courts must be established for quick dealing of cases .

5. Government should conduct legal  awareness campaigns for SC/ST communities to make them aware of their legal  rights. 

6.Steps should be taken by the Government for the educational development of these communities. Education of lower caste women should be promoted .

7. Psychological and rehabilitation support must be provided by the Government for the victims of such incidents. 

CONCLUSION: This article spotted light on one of the most neglected issue of the society in India .Gender and Caste-based violence against lower caste women is a  crucial subject matter in present day in India where every single day 10 lower caste women and minor girls are raped due to caste dominance by higher caste perpetrator. 

This article examines rape and sexual abuse  as a major tactic used to weaken the lower caste communities and their women.Therefore sexual abuse of women belonging to such communities must be addressed of rights of these communities and as well as in terms of lower caste women .

This issue is something which cannot be resolved by raising the voice of any one or two individuals or organizations, it something which can only be resolved if the government, media , social welfare organization, and survivors of such incidents will come together to bring Chang in the society. 

REFERENCES

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334453789_Understanding_sexual_violence_as_a_form_of_caste_violence
• https://www.outlookindia.com/national/revisiting-hathras-a-timeline-of-how-the-case-unfolded-news-266802
• https://www.indianetzone.com/21/varna_system_ancient_india.htm

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