Unnao Is Another Example of How India Fails Its Rape Survivors

A 23-year-old rape survivor in Unnao in UP was set on fire, by two men who were accused of raping her in March 2019.

A 23-year-old rape survivor in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh was set on fire – by two men who were accused of raping her in March 2019.

(Photo: Shohini Bose/The Quint)

Video Editor: Vivek Gupta

Another day, another reminder of why India is no country for women. A 23-year-old rape survivor in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh was set on fire – by two men who were accused of raping her in December 2018.

She was on her way to court, to fight her rape case, along with her parents; just in case you say things like, why was she alone, who was she going with and women must not go out after dark, etc.

She was taken outside her village, into the fields and had petrol poured on her before being set on fire. When the police found her, she was severely burnt and the five men had run away. She’s now admitted to a Lucknow hospital where her condition is said to be grave since she has suffered 90 percent burn injuries. The men have been arrested.

But how did these men, including the two men who raped her, have access to her?

Why No Laws for Protection of Rape Survivors?

The woman actually did everything we expect a rape survivor to do.

She had filed an FIR in March 2019 accusing these two men of raping and filming her, the police had managed to arrest one man but the other was absconding. Last week, the arrested accused got bail, and the woman who went to the system for justice and followed due process, was left vulnerable.

Why wasn’t she given police protection? Especially when it was clear that the accused belonged to an influential family and her life could be in danger?

Because, we don’t have laws like that.

Why No Police Protection for Rape Survivors?

Let me explain: Despite recommendations from the Law Commission of India and Supreme Court, the reforms in rape law in 2013 doesn’t have acts on victim and witness protection. Delhi though, does.

A Witness Protection Scheme which was introduced in 2015. The Delhi State Legal Services Authority can provide police protection, police patrolling, even relocation, in a case after they evaluate a threat. And most cases are of rape, child abuse and acid attack; so clearly there is a need for a system like this worldwide. But if you’re a woman who lives outside Delhi, in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, the law can’t help you.

For everywhere else, rape survivors have to ask courts for protection — another thing on a check list for a rape survivor in India; apart from convincing the world to believe them, of course, by proving that they weren’t wearing anything wrong, saying anything wrong, did nothing wrong, aren’t lying and indeed, did get raped.

Death Penalty Is Not the Solution

This news comes days after the rape and murder of the Hyderabad vet, so everyone’s favourite solution to rape in India is back in the news — death penalty. But death penalty for rape can make things worse; in fact, it is a factor which led to the woman in Unnao being burnt alive.

When there is death penalty for rape, it puts rape survivors at greater risk. Instead of reducing rape, the accused now have incentive to ensure that the rape survivor doesn’t report; so they kill her or leave her severely injured. Studies have also shown that death penalty actually leads to women reporting rape in fewer numbers. So, the demand for death penalty for rape isn’t the solution.

What is really needed is for existing laws to be more supportive of rape survivors, like offering them protection, and for ALL rape cases to be heard with efficiency – not just cases in fast-track courts, and not just cases that get media attention.

We owe it to the Hyderabad vet who was raped and murdered. We owe it to the thousands of women in India who report rape. And we owe it to the Unnao woman, who right now, is fighting for her life in a Lucknow hospital.