No lesson learnt from Dec 16 gangrape: Only 28% of rape trials led to convictions in 2014

One of the rituals that follow the publishing of the annual Crime in India report by the National Crime Reports Bureau is shuddering at the staggering number of crimes in the country, especially ones perpetrated against women and children. Keeping with tradition, the number of rapes registered in 2014 climbed to 37,681 compared to approximately 33,000 in 2013. There was another statistic that continued to point a finger at the dismal law and order situation in the country. And that’s the conviction rate in rape cases. Just to emphasise how difficult it has been for rape survivors to get justice, the same section also listed the astounding number of cases which are still pending trials. [caption id=“attachment_2407338” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters.[/caption] According to the NCRB data, in 2014, 1,25,433 cases of rape were lined up to be tried. Out of them, over 90,000 cases were pending from previous years. Of them, trials were completed in 17,649 cases. Only 4,944 people were convicted whereas a whopping 12,705 accused were acquitted this year. At the end of the year, records showed that 1,07,531 cases of rape were still awaiting trial. The conviction rate in rape cases in 2014 was 28 percent. The numbers, in isolation, seem mind boggling. However, for people who have followed the statistics over the year, the data is perhaps less shocking. This is because the unfortunate conviction rate seems to be following the pattern it has followed for several years now. The following are snapshots from conviction statistics from previous years:     According to the data above, the conviction rate in 2012 was approximately 24.21 percent. In 2013, it was 27 percent. The alarming tradition of miserable conviction rates has raised eyebrows in the past too. However, the criticism that India’s justice system has drawn due to its inability to deliver justice to victims of sexual violence hasn’t quite managed to change the way governments looked at the issue. In 2014, the newly-elected Narendra Modi government directed 24 chief justices of high courts in the country to set up fast track courts to deal with rape cases. According to a December 2014 report on The New Indian Express, the setting up of fast track courts falls under the jurisdiction of the state governments. “Central funding to states for the Fast Track Courts, established under the 11th Finance Commission Award, was discontinued with effect from April 1, 2011. But, some states have continued FTC beyond 2011, with their own resources,” the report states. It is not clear if the government planned to restart funding for the fast track courts, because no allocation has been made for the purpose in the last two budgets of the Modi government. It was under the Congress government that funding for fast track courts was discontinued. Anyone familiar with the workings of the country’s bureaucracy and Centre-state relations will be aware of the fact that the Centre’s directions to a state government on an issue, with no promise of financial help, doesn’t always yield the best of results. And in the hierarchy of issues with rich political rewards, women’s safety and justice have always figured fairly low. Before the Centre issued the directive to high courts, The Times of India had reported in August that states like UP, Bihar and Gujarat — which record high incidences of sexual violence — don’t have a single fast track court. “The law ministry report shows only 212 fast track courts (FTCs) have been set up so far for the purpose in the country. None have come up in UP, Bihar and Gujarat. In fact, a year and half after the Nirbhaya incident, only 16 states have reported setting up such courts,” reports The Times of India. The report also notes that prior to the Modi government’s push to the high courts, the Congress government, faced with a stiff backlash in the wake of the 16 December, 2012 gangrape in New Delhi, had issued the same directive to the courts. The Times of India article, published a good one-and-a-half year after the directive was issued, noted how the states didn’t bother to follow the Centre’s directions. This goes on to prove that the Centre issuing a directive hardly spurs states into action, especially on the issue of women’s safety. The Central government’s conviction was also questionable since it neither proposed a financial allocation for the same nor did it initiate a more enthusiastic, resolved dialogue to address the issue. While the Congress government’s track record had been dismal in the area of women’s safety, the Modi government didn’t fare much better. In fact, the government shocked the country by slashing the annual allocation to the Women and Child Development Ministry by 50 percent during this year’s budget. The Indian Express reported, “Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated Rs 10,382 crore for the ministry. Last year, the allocation was Rs 21,193 crore of which the ministry managed to spend Rs 18,588 crore. The allocation left the ministry flummoxed…” The fact that this government’s commitment to fight sexual violence with an iron hand is as questionable as its predecessors’, was evident in its decision to slash the number of promised rape crisis centres to 36 from 660.   However, during the budget this year, the government once again dumped Rs 1,000 crore into the Nirbhaya Fund without presenting a plan of how it wants to spend it. It had done its job on paper, like its predecessor, and women’s safety continued to be as fragile as it was in the past. The government’s disinterested approach to women’s safety seems to have rubbed off on the judiciary which is sitting on a mountain of rape cases that have not yet seen a trial. Now add to that the police force’s unfortunate track record in cooperating with rape victims and actively pursuing cases of sexual assault. What you are left with is a nightmare that awaits after a woman is sexually assaulted in the country: the NCRB data is a damning statistical indicator of this. SS Rathi, officer on special duty at the Delhi State Legal Services Authority, as saying, sums up the pathetic story behind this shocking statistic in a Mint report from December 2014. He says, “When fast track courts were conceived, was any thought given to fast tracking investigations or providing a special procedure different from the routine procedure? A holistic approach is missing.” Recently, it was announced that Rs 700 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund will be used to set up CCTV cameras in 20,000 train coaches. In two years, this is the first time a concrete plan has been proposed to utlilise the Nirbhaya fund. However, it has to be noted that this plan covers just a sliver of the areas that pose threats to women’s safety in the country. In fact, one is forced to wonder why the fund can’t be used to set up more fast track courts in the country, which come with the promise of slightly faster trials than regular courts. A Times of India article noted how the abysmal conviction work to embolden criminals. It quotes RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge who explains that many offenders are walking free in India despite repeated cases of assault, thanks to the police’s failure to frame watertight cases and the judiciary’s delays. He said, “The main problem is that, due to the abysmal conviction rates, there is no fear of law among criminals. A recent example of this was the sexual assault on a Spanish expatriate in the city. The accused there was out on bail for 10 different crimes involving break-ins.” This NCRB report should serve as a wake-up call for the government, police and judiciary. However, if past records are anything to go by only a miracle can wake them up.