The safety and empowerment of women is a top priority for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated against the backdrop of protests over a spate of cases of sexual violence against women and girls across the country.
“I understand the pain and anger of my sisters and daughters, irrespective of the states where atrocities against women have been committed”, Modi said on Sunday while addressing a political rally in Maharashtra state. He added that his government is reinforcing laws to impose stricter punishments for crimes against women.
Modi stressed that the federal government will support states “in every possible way” to stop atrocities against women. “We cannot stop until this sinful mentality has been eradicated from our society,” he added.
The PM’s comments come against national outcry against the rape and murder of a doctor in a government-run college and hospital in Kolkata, eastern India’s West Bengal state. The body of the doctor was found in a seminar hall on the college campus on August 9th, sparking a wave of protests. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s premier investigative agency, is probing the case.
Another incident was reported last week in Mumbai, India’s financial capital. An attendant reportedly molested two kindergarten students, aged four, in a school toilet in Badlapur. The incident triggered a massive protest across the city and the state, with angry parents marching to the school and vandalizing the campus. The accused was arrested last week.
People also hit the streets in country’s northeastern state of Assam on Sunday, protesting against an alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old girl last week and demanding exemplary punishment for the culprits. The girl was allegedly raped by three persons while she was returning home from tuition on her bicycle. The prime accused, who was arrested on Friday, allegedly escaped from custody, jumped into a pond and died on Saturday morning, media have reported, citing police.
“Our biggest responsibility as a society and as a government should be to protect the life and dignity of women,” Modi has stated in his Sunday speech. The PM has also encouraged victims to report the crimes.
Despite New Delhi’s introduction of measures, including legislative changes, to combat rape, the country continues to contend with high levels of crimes against women, including sexual violence. India registers around 30,000 rape cases annually. However, experts note that many cases go unreported due to social stigma.
Last week, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, where mass protests have raged for the past two weeks, wrote to Modi, highlighting the “increasing occurrence” of rapes in India. According to the leader, around 90 such atrocities are committed across India daily. Mamata, who heads the Trinamool Congress party which is in opposition to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has called for “stringent central legislation” and strong central laws to prevent such crimes.