INDIA’S UNENDING RAPE CRISIS: LAWS MADE, JUSTICE DENIED

AUTHOR: RAONAK RANJAN, ARMY INSTITUTE OF LAW, MOHALI

Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes. The problem with the groups who deals with rape is that they try to educate women above how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape.

-Kurt Cobain

The Indian and international media have taken notice of gender-based crimes in India, particularly sexual offenses against women. Rape has been a crime for as long as women have existed. The idea of punishing a rapist was first introduced in the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Even in Islam, the punishment for rape can range from stoning to death. In the past, women were viewed as the property of their fathers or husbands, so any sexual offense against them was regarded as damaging their property. In 1860, rape was added to the Indian Penal Code as a crime. As society changed, the definition underwent multiple revisions to strengthen it and make the penalty more severe. But even with such strict regulations and severe penalties, the number of rape cases in India is still rising sharply.

A very sad event happened in 2012 when a 23-year-old student was gang-raped on a moving bus on December 16 and thrown outside naked. She was raped and tormented by six persons, one of whom was a minor. People from all over the country were incensed by the horrific act. Following this horrific event, the Verma committee's recommendations were included in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013. The 2018 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act attempted to reinforce the rules against rape, specifically sexual offenses against minors.

Nothing much has changed in the situation, even with so many amendments. Reports from the NCRB for 2022 show that there were 31,516 instances and 31,982 victims, or 86 rapes every day. This implies that a girl may have been yelling for assistance when you were reading this blog, but her voice was not heard. These are the official records; the unofficial ones are unknown to everyone. How many women truly endure daily suffering is unknown. According to a 2022 report, approximately 99.1% of sexual offenses go unreported, and those which get reported are treated very lightly.

Nobody knows how many women in India have to give up their lives, their dignity, or even their peace before justice is no longer a privilege but a right. Not quite a year after the Nirbhaya Gang Rape, the Mumbai Gang Rape (also known as the Shakti Mill Gang Rape) took place in 2013, while the nation was still recovering from the death of her daughter Nirbhaya. Only three years later, in 2017, there was a rape case in Unnao in which a politician (BJP MLA) was implicated in the rape of a minor. In the Kathua gang rape that followed, an eight-year-old child was viciously raped. A lady was raped in a moving train during the Kanchanjunga Express Rape event in 2024, serving as a terrifying reminder that both public areas and automobiles are unsafe. Speaking of public areas, even women's workspaces don't appear secure. One of the trainee doctors was viciously raped in Kolkata's RG KAR hospital in 2024.

A law student was just raped in Kolkata in 2025. No public location, workplace, or even educational institution is safe for women. These particular instances were made public, but what about the others? Maybe they're hoping for attention from the media, a candle march, or a popular hashtag. Our country is a place where people's anger has a limit and justice is consistently denied. And when a survivor dares to speak up for her dignity, it is she who is being questioned. “What was she doing? Why was she out late? What was she wearing? Did she ask for it? Did she provoke it?.....” Essential basis here is that the fight of the victim is not only with the rapist but with the entire system who are suspicious of her pain which she went through.

Although we have IPC sections like-

Section 375 and 376: Defines rape and punishment for the same (now section 63 of BNS,2023)

Section 376 A-D: Covers all forms of rape, custodial rape, gang rape, repeat offenders, punishments etc. (now sections 65-71 of BNS, 2023)

CrPC section 173: Mandates rape investigation within 2 months (now section 193 of BNSS, 2023) and

POCSO act 2012, which are there for the protection of women and minor girl but looking at such an increase in rapes in India and low conviction rate, these feels like useless.

“No man on his first attempt goes and rapes somebody. They start with smaller incidents like sexual harassment, teasing, molesting and then their confidence gets built as society and police don’t take these cases seriously. Even if one goes on to report them, they usually don't get support because these are considered to be small incidents.”

Adv. Audrey D’Mello,

-Director of Majlis

Some of the reasons why some instances go unreported is because many women fear about how she would be judged by other people in society, the attitude of police, the desire of not recollecting the harsh memories etc. Easy access to pornographic material, western and Indian cinema promoting sexual offence against the women etc is the very root cause of the increase in rape count in country. No doubt that laws are made but their impact can only be felt when change comes from within the society.