Dalit Survivors Of Sexual Violence Deal With Blocks To Justice At Every Step

[This article contains descriptions of sexual and physical violence, which might trigger unwelcome and distressing memories or thoughts. We advise readers to use their discretion before reading]

New Delhi: It can take anywhere between half a day to three months for Dalit survivors of sexual violence – or the families of victims – to get a first information report (FIR) registered with the police, as per a recent joint report of two collectives, the National Council of Women Leaders (NCWL) and the Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDN). These delays were experienced in 44% of the cases studied in the report. 

Caste becomes a critical factor in how sexual violence survivors access justice, show the findings of the report titled ‘Caste-based Sexual Violence and State Impunity’. Even if an FIR is somehow registered, the woman or her family are threatened with further violence by the accused or his family for refusing to drop the case. Many survivors and their families also struggled to track protracted investigations and trials. Further, institutions dealing with the cases, such as hospitals, often flouted established investigation protocols. 

The report documents the experiences of survivors of caste-based sexual violence across 13 states – Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand – and the barriers these women and girls have faced while accessing the justice system. 

Upto 3,372 cases of rape against Dalit women and girls were registered in 2020, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). On average, close to 10 Dalit women and girls were raped every day in the country, with an increase of 45% in the numbers between 2015 and 2020.

“The increase can be partly attributed to increased reporting of sexual violence cases by Dalit women and girls. However, rates of reporting cases by Dalit survivors of sexual violence still remain extremely low,” the report stated. 

However, analyses by experts have shown that these numbers are grossly underreported. As has been pointed out often, the NCRB data only includes cases for which FIRs have been registered. However, not all survivors of sexual violence are able to get an FIR filed as has been found by several studies (see here and here).  

Suhanthi*, a 27 year-old Dalit school teacher in Tamil Nadu, alleged rape when a fellow teacher from the dominant Vaniba Chettiyar community refused to marry her after promising to do so. (Rape, when defined as the breaking of the promise of marriage between two sexually engaged adults, sits on a contentious legal turf. Marriage with someone else soon after having sex with another cannot not be construed as “lack of consent” on the latter’s part, the Kerala High Court recently observed.) 

Suhanthi alleged that the man also took her money and jewellery and quoted him as saying: “My caste and family’s purity will be destroyed (if I marry you).” 

Instead of filing an FIR, the police tried to arrange for her to marry the accused. The family of the accused allegedly hit her with an asbestos sheet while using casteist slurs for seeking police intervention. Suhanthi said she waited three months to get an FIR registered. While the perpetrator has been arrested, the family of the accused is allegedly trying to intimidate Suhanthi into withdrawing or settling the case. 

Her experience is common to many Dalit survivors of sexual violence, as the report shows.