Government Attempts to Cover Up Protests against Gang Rape in India
As India’s sexual assault problem persists, awareness of it among the public is increasing (Flickr).
TW: Mentions of Rape
The gang rape and murder of a 19 year-old lower-caste girl by four upper-caste men in the village of Hathras in India’s state of Uttar Pradesh on September 14 caused massive outrage throughout the region. India has an average of 87 rape cases reported per day, most involving lower-caste women and girls.
The caste system started off as a way to divide people based on occupation in ancient India, but it turned into a way for people of higher-order occupations to restrict the rights of people of lower-order occupations. Even today, this hierarchy still allows discrimination.
Despite clear signs of an upper-caste gang rape, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his allies, including the police, are trying to cover up the case. The victim was reportedly cremated by police officials in Hathras without the consent of the family, who wanted to perform proper funeral rites. Many are seeing this as an attempt to remove evidence of a gang rape. Furthermore, some media outlets have aimed to dismiss the young woman’s rape by pushing the narrative of the death as an ‘honor killing’ rather than a gang rape. Honor killings are murders conducted by someone’s own kin for bringing shame upon the family, and women are predominantly victims of it. In this case, the Indian media is pitching the girl’s murder as an honor killing resulting from her trying to elope with an upper-caste man.
The lack of empathy from leading politicians as well as poor handling of the case by the police has triggered a series of protests from opposition parties as well as the public across India. In retaliation, the government detained protesters and imposed Section 144 of the Indian Constitution in Hathras, prohibiting any kind of mass gathering, protests, or media presence. The fallout from the Hathras rape case has further angered protesters, who see it as an example of not just casteism and lack of female safety but also the fading of Indian democracy.