Yet Again, A Rape Survivor Was Forced To Strip By Authorities

A Dalit woman who was a rape survivor was asked by a magistrate to strip in order to show the injuries. Read that again. The incident happened in Rajasthan's Karauli district on March 30. The woman had gone to record her statement in court before the magistrate. However, she refused to strip and registered a complaint against the magistrate, who has now been booked by the Police. 

Deputy SP (ST-SC) cell Mina Meena said that the Dalit woman registered a complaint against the Hinduan magistrate on March 30, alleging that he asked her to strip while recording her statement.  She refused to strip and after recording the statement in court on March 30, she registered a complaint against the magistrate. The case was registered with Kotwali Police Station under charges of outraging modesty," Deputy SP Meena said. 

According to the police, the woman was raped on March 19, and an FIR was registered regarding the crime on March 27 at Hinduan Sadar Police Station. The Hinduan magistrate has been booked under section 345 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC and SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act. 

This is not the first time that a Dalit woman had to face injustice, discrimination and shaming.

Cases of violence against Dalit women reported recently 

• Recently, a bus driver and conductor forced a 59-year-old Dalit woman, Panchalai, to deboard the bus in an unsafe location because she was carrying beef in her luggage. The incident happened on the Harur-Krishnagiri bus of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation.
• In January, a Dalit woman was raped by a police constable who then strangled her to death. The incident happened in Agra, UP. The 25-year-old Dalit woman's body was found hanging in the apartment of the constable. Reportedly, the duo knew each other since the time they underwent Nursing training in Jhansi. The woman's family said that they sent a marriage proposal to the constable's family but they denied it. 
• In the same month, a video went viral in which a Dalit woman was being assaulted by a police officer in Bihar's Sitamarhi. In the video, the officer was seen ruthlessly beating the woman with a stick out in the open, where the public just witnessed the injustice rather than taking action. The woman had indulged in an altercation with another woman and for this, she had to undergo police brutality. 
• In MP, four men dragged a Dalit woman out of her house during the Holi celebration, physically assaulted her, stripped her and paraded her in the village half-clad.
• Then, of course, the Sandeshkhali violence that recently made headlines was also proof of how the system abuses Dalit women. Many women who came out in protest against Trinamool Congress member Sheikh Shah's injustice and misuse of political power were Dalits and Tribals. Apart from land-grabbing, Shahjahan and his aides sexually assaulted women. They raped the women, held them captive for days at the local party office, threatened to murder them and their families and even gave assurances of government jobs if they satisfied the party men. 

Statistical analysis of discrimination against Dalit women

The National Crime Records Bureau report showed that 10 incidents of rape against Dalit women and girls are reported daily in India. This data is from January 2024. Between 2009 and 2020, a study revealed that 80 per cent of sexual violence cases in Haryana against Dalit women were committed by upper-caste men. Dalit women form 16 percent of the female population in India and have to suffer from triple discrimination based on caste, gender, and economy. 

Why is society quiet on Dalit discrimination?

The violence against Dalit women is taken for granted. Our society has normalised the discrimination and abuse of Dalits. Be it because of the degraded position of Dalits in religious texts or their traditional suppression, society has closed its eyes against Dalit discrimination. But it is 2024 now. Why are we still in the clutches of toxic traditions? Why aren't we using our so-called modern mindset and lifestyle to speak against the abuse of Dalits? 

When we talk about the Dalit community specifically, Dalit men too suffer. But most of the time, their gender acts as a shield. But when it comes to Dalit women, their gender also cannot protect them. Dalit women are considered sex objects born to be used. They are not even considered fit for marriages, which are seen as symbols of respect for women. Dalit women are used sexually but discarded as filthy when it comes to marriage. 

Dalit women belong to communities that have negligible representation. These communities have been reeling under poverty traditionally. Dalits are employed only in certain menial jobs that don't bring the required income. So Dalit women and men both have to work to run the families. But a Dalit woman who is seeking for job is again misused. Knowing that the woman is a Dalit who will never be supported by society or law, people feel free to take advantage of her adversity. 

The Systemic Discrimination against Dalit women

There are laws to protect Dalits. But are the guardians of the law free of the casteist mindset? As we have seen in the cases quoted above, the system itself abuses Dalit women. From politicians and magistrates to police officers, everyone has prejudices that discriminate against Dalits. Who then will protect the Dalit women? Where should they go to seek relief? 

Some say that education will help erase casteism in our society. But then how is that possible when the education system itself discriminates Dalits? Many Universities remove courses or books addressing the issue of Dalit discrimination. People consider Dalit autobiographies or novels 'profane' and 'filthy' which will affect the mindsets of students and the harmony of society. 

When highly educated people cannot consider Dalit issues as grave and valid enough to be taught in classes, what can we expect from the common crowd? 

The profanity and filth in the Dalit autobiographies are not fabricated. They depict the reality of the Dalit community in India. If only society could open its eyes, it would be shocked by the trials and tribulations of Dalits. 

Views expressed are the author's own.