A woman is raped every 20 minutes in India.  Indian women live in a society where they are denied the basic rights they should be born with. A great example of the hardships Indian women are facing on a daily basis is an incident that occurred on March 3, 2014. A young woman was gang-raped a second time in four months. Not only was this women raped again, but she was also strangled and dumped in the farm fields of Ferozabad. We later find out that the accused had “presumed she was dead.” 

What makes this situation all the more horrifying is that her parents had hired two, yes two Indian police officers to protect her, trying to avoid the reoccurrence of her past rape incident. After being taken to the hospital, giving a thorough explanation to the doctors, and being fully examined, the doctors came to the conclusion that this women who was unconscious in a farm field and ripped of her clothing, was indeed not lying for attention. What a relief!

After doctors had confirmed to the police that she was, without a doubt, gang-raped and had serious marks on her necks, proving she had been strangled mercilessly, the police gave their input on the situation. The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ferozabad Rakesh Kumar described her condition as “not serious”.  Although her health condition may not have been “serious,” what is more important is the effect the incident of rape had on a woman who had been raped not once but twice. According to the country’s National Crime Record Bureau, crimes against women have increased by 7.1 percent since 2010 in India. Police of India need to focus on the big picture, but it seems they are too caught up with unimportant details such as direct physical conditions. The two careless police officers, who were put on duty to guard the young woman, claim to have heard a commotion, rushed outside, but forgot their shoes and returned to put them on. Of course, this is logical because while a woman is yelling and screaming for her life while being kidnapped, police officers must make sure they don’t accidentally step on a rock and get a minor cut on their feet!

It has been over a year since the first major incident of rape was brought to India’s attention and it’s appalling that nothing major has changed since. Why can’t a woman feel safe in her own country, let alone the streets of her own town? Why haven’t actions been taken to stop the corrupt police systems and rape in India? Women should not and cannot be blamed for being raped! Women should be able to dress attractively and not feel that they are endangering themselves or “instigating rape.”

Let us know in the comments what you think about this incident.