Every month, there are vicious cases of Dalit women being gang raped, disembowelled and left for dead. Government institutions also excuse and protect oppressor caste men from the consequences of sexual violence against Dalit women. Recently, in many cases, rape perpetrators were acquitted of the crime by the court. These only indicate that the Dalit rape victims were seen as unworthy of protection and justice by the Courts as well.
High rates of sexual assaults on Dalit women reveal that dismissing sexual violence has become a common practice among the Police. Many rape survivors felt further victimized by the Police, not believing the crime happened at a time when they needed support leading to secondary victimization, loss of self, cumulative health and social effects.
In many states across the country, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Rape and gang rape are used as weapons of power and toxic male dominance over Dalit girls by men, especially those coming from oppressor caste households. These entitled men with caste and class privilege would see women as mere commodities who can be used and discarded.
According to National Crime Record Bureau ( NCRB ), 4252 Dalit women were raped in India in 2022. These staggering numbers show the cruelty in society and the apathy of the Department of Women and Child Development in India.
Here are a few reported examples of the hundreds of sexual assaults and rapes that happen every month, apart from many sexual crimes that go unreported.
Case 1:
A Dalit girl is ambushed, beaten and gang-raped by two men in the Hathras region of Uttar Pradesh (UP). The accused threatened murder if she complained to the Police.
Case 2:
On another day in Hathras of UP, a 13- year old minor girl was drugged with a pill, made unconscious and gang raped by a neighbour and two of his associates. They also recorded her video and posted it on Social media.
~ November, 2023
Case 3:
In Jalalabad of UP, a 14-year-old Dalit girl was abducted and gang-raped by three men in a eucalyptus grove. The girl’s condition deteriorated and she was hospitalized by the family for treatment.
~October, 2023
Case 4:
Six men abducted, raped and murdered two Dalit sisters aged 17 and 15 years in Lakhimpurkheri of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. After raping the girls, these men strangulated and murdered the girls and hung them on a tree.
~September, 2022.
Case 5:
Sonu Pandey raped and murdered a Dalit girl in Ayodhya, UP. It was a long ordeal of emotional and sexual abuse, coercion, intimidation, terrifying threats and violence by the accused before murdering the girl.
~ June, 2023
Another Paramount thing is only rape incidents happening to women coming from oppressor castes rise to national attention. Then, the kettle of outrage boils over, and people stage protests, but rape crimes against Dalit women don’t see similar outrage from the casteist society.