Shraddha Walkar murder: 2021 was the darkest year for women’s safety in India

By: Anshul Vipat

The National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) data shows a consistent year-on-year rise in crime cases against women in India

The brutal killing of the 27-year-old woman in Delhi will be inscribed in the history of heinous crimes. Delhi-based Aftab Ameen Poonawalla allegedly killed his live-in partner Shraddha (26) and chopped her bodies into 35 pieces. Police arrested Poonawalla after the father of the woman filed a missing complaint. As per the police, after Aftab strangulated and chopped Shraddha's body, he bought a fridge to keep the body parts. For 18 days Aftab went out of his flat at 2 am and had disposed of the body parts around different localities of the city. There are reports that the victim underwent physical and mental abuse when the couple were staying together.

Multiple past instances of such atrocities have repeatedly questioned the safety of women in India. It is also a well-known fact that numerous cases either go unreported or are not registered with the police.

The National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) data shows a consistent year-on-year rise in crime cases against women in India. 2021, for which the government released its data recently, was the worst year ever. The country saw over four lakh cases of rape, rape and murder, dowry torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, trafficking, and online harassment. There is a 15 percent increase from the previous year crimes.

Majority of cases under crime against women were registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives’ (31.8 percent) followed by ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ (20.8 percent), ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’ (17.6 percent) and ‘Rape’ (7.4 percent). The crime rate registered per lakh women population is 64.5 percent in 2021 as opposed to 56.5 percent in 2020.”

Delhi worst city for women in India

Delhi, where the incident took place registered a steep 41 percent hike in crimes against women, the highest among Union Territories. The National Capital witnessed 14,277 cases against women in a year. Out of the 19 metropolitan cities, too, Delhi logged the highest number of cases of crimes against women.

Among other states, Uttar Pradesh took the top slot with 56,083 cases registered in 2021. Rajasthan was second, followed by Maharashtra. Nagaland saw the least number of crimes against women, followed by Mizoram and Goa. However, in terms of rate of crime against women, Assam (168.3) was on the top of the list for 2021, followed by Delhi (147), Odisha (137), Haryana (119.7) and Telangana (111.2).             

Domestic violence on the rise

The Aftab-Shraddha murder case also lay bare the increasing number of domestic abuse cases in the country. Domestic violence cases, also including abuse caused by economic dependency, have been spiraling year after year. This is how bad it is: one in three women faces physical, emotional or sexual violence from intimate partners. Out of 4.28 lakh crimes against women, 1.36 lakh cases across India were registered under 'cruelty by husband or his relatives' in 2021.

West Bengal reported the highest number of cases of cruelty against women by spouses or their relatives in 2021. West Bengal was followed by Uttar Pradesh where 18,375 such cases were recorded, and Rajasthan where 16,949 cases were registered. Among metropolitan cities, Delhi reported most cases of such violence at 4,674. In Kolkata, the figure stood at 841, much below those of Hyderabad (1,678), Jaipur (1,200) and Lucknow (1,101).

The data should be enough for us, especially in the wake of Shraddha Walkar’s unimaginably ghastly murder to talk more about women’s safety that’s compromised in toxic relationships and issues of mental health. Especially when data conceals more than it reveals. Frankly, what we see in the numbers is just the tip of the iceberg.

Only one in 10 of the victims of physical, emotional or sexual violence from intimate partners reports the offence, according to multiple analyses. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), which was conducted during the 2019-21 period, one in three women in India – between ages 18 and 45 – experienced spousal abuse.

Harmful gender social norms help justify violence against women and girls

But what sets it apart here is the silence that surrounds to, even approval for violence at home.  A report by the CSR Journal shows about 40 percent of women in India find domestic violence acceptable in some cases.

The latest figures from the NFHS are even more revelatory. More than 40 percent of women and 38 percent of men told government surveyors that it was ok for a man to beat his wife if she disrespected her in-laws, neglected her home or children, went out without telling him, refused sex or didn't cook properly.

Over 75 percent of women justified men beating their wives in three states -- Telangana (84 percent), Andhra Pradesh (84 percent) and Karnataka (77 percent). Manipur (66 percent), Kerala (52 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (49 percent), Maharashtra (44 percent) and West Bengal (42 percent) were the other states and Union Territory where a large number of women justified men beating their wives.

The lowest population of women that justified beating by husbands was in Himachal Pradesh (14.8 percent). Among men, 81.9 percent of respondents from Karnataka said such behaviour is justified as against 14.2 percent in Himachal Pradesh.

According to Amita Pitre, who leads Oxfam India's gender justice programme, "Violence against women - and its justification - is rooted in patriarchy. There's high acceptance for gender-based violence because in India there are fixed social notions about how a woman should behave.  So, if a woman challenges it, then it's all right for the husband to show her 'her place'".

If anything, Shraddha Walker's gruesome murder should shine a bigger spotlight on the issues of women’s safety, toxic relationships and mental health. Her death again is pushing the question – how safe are our women?