Dalit women often face sexual violence, India
A 20-year-old Dalit woman from western Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, who was allegedly brutally assaulted and gang-raped by four caste men from her village, died nearly two weeks after the attack.
The incident happened on September 14 at a village within the district, some 200 KM from Delhi.
India has been no stranger to the sexual violence and discrimination faced by women on a day-to-day basis.
But the justification is given and the extent of this violence has always revolved around the gender demographics of women and their fatally unstable position in society.
Dalit case details
That young Dalit woman was allegedly brutally assaulted and gang-raped by four caste men from her village.
She died nearly fortnight after the attack while fighting for her life in the intensive care unit of a government hospital.
Doctors at the hospital said that the woman’s tongue was cut and she has multiple fractures everywhere her body.
All four accused are arrested and sent to jail under the charge of gang-rape and murder.
Raped because of CASTE?
That young 20-year-old Dalit woman was raped solely due to her caste. The ruthless violence was also initiated due to her caste.
Even the recourse which she opted for within the form of a police complaint took 10 days.
This was again, mainly because it had been against those five accused, who belong to the upper crust community of Thakurs.
Rapists already knew the woman
In Hathras, the Thakur men knew the Dalit woman. They were neighbours, and therefore the two families had been having disputes for 20 years now.
If it’s just a family feud then what it’s all got to do with caste? Lets take a in-depth look;
The Dalit family has some agricultural land.
Twenty years ago, the Thakur family would bring their buffaloes to graze on the crops the Dalit family was growing.
The woman’s grandfather reportedly asked the Thakurs to take the buffaloes away.
Protests in Uttar Pradesh
Over the past few months, the Lakhimpur Kheri district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has witnessed incidents of women being raped and brutally murdered.
A minimum of two of the women were Dalits, the lowest caste within the Hindu system of social. hierarchy.
They (Dalits) were previously mentioned as “untouchables” and cast out from society.
In September, a 14-year-old girl Dalit girl was found hanging from a tree in a village, having been raped and murdered.
Just a couple of days before, a three-year-old girl was raped and strangled to death.
On 14 and 24 August, two girls, a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old were both raped and killed in Lakhimpur Kheri.
People’s word on this
According to Manjula Pradeep, director of campaigns at the Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network, said;
“These cases of extreme sexual violence are more examples of the dominant caste wielding power over Dalit women who are perceived as weak and vulnerable and available,”
She further added:
“Dalit women are seen as impure and deprived when they access basic amenities but their bodies are also used as objects to take revenge on the Dalit communities and keep them oppressed.”
She added:
“With more Dalits demanding their rights, these kinds of incidents we’ve seen in Lakhimpur Kheri are increasing.”
Divya Srinivasan, a south Asia consultant for women’s rights organisation Equality Now, said;
“The recent spate of rape and murder cases in the Lakhimpur Kheri district indicates an endemic problem of sexual violence and the government must do much more to deal with this crisis,”
Srinivasan continued saynig;
“In many instances, sexual violence committed against Dalit women and girls is perpetrated by men from dominant ‘upper castes’, who use sexual violence as a tool to say power and reinforce existing caste, social and gender hierarchies.”
