Just over a year on from the brutal gang-rape, torture and death of Jyoti Singh Pandey in Delhi, (see our blogs: 1, 2 and 3) another story of a gang-rape has hit the international news. This time though, the gang-rape was at the orders of a local village council, or panchayat, in West Bengal as ‘punishment’ for a liaison with a married man. The 20 year old woman had reportedly been having an affair with the man from another community and as punishment the council of village elders fined the couple 50,000 rupees (around £500). When the woman’s family could not pay, the council told the men in the village they were ‘free to enjoy the girl and have fun’. The woman was allegedly then raped by an estimated 5-13 men – including neighbours, teenagers and men old enough to be her father. The gang-rape apparently took place on a bamboo platform with many onlookers. Even more shockingly, the other villagers seem to have been united in their approval that this was the correct ‘punishment’. The woman, although badly injured and losing a lot of blood, survived and is now in hospital. This is not the first time village elders in Birbhum have ordered brutal punishments for social transgressions. Four years ago, they ordered tribal women to strip and walk naked in front of large crowds as punishment for ‘unauthorised’ relationships. Such punishments are often seen as justified to restore the ‘honour’ of the village, damaged by the women’s behaviour. To the educated urban elite in India, as well as the more liberal West, it seems inconceivable that such an attack could be carried out - even more so ordered as a punishment. It is perhaps also the juxtaposition between the tribal villages in India and these attitudes with the more liberal urban areas that makes this attack all the more shocking. This gang-rape took place in Birbhum district, in a village with no school or electricity. Only 60km away, however, is Shantiniketan, the university town founded by Tagore, whose alumni include Nobel-prize winning economist Amartya Sen and renowned film maker Satyajit Ray, among others. Birbhum is also only around 245km away from Kolkata itself – where many women pursue higher education, speak 3 or 4 languages fluently and hold down high status jobs on par with any city in the world.
Soutik Biswas, reporting for the BBC from Delhi, comments however, that even among this tribal community, such a violent attack is unprecedented[1]. The Santhals make up the community in Birbhum – one of India’s largest and oldest tribal communities with a population of around 10.5 million across five states. Biswas reports that the Santhals have generally been known for their peaceful traditions. If a man or women marries outside the community, they cannot participate in the rituals and festivals. If they don’t agree to this, they can live away from the community peacefully. There has previously not been a question of unofficial village councils ordering any kind of violence against them.
For the last 10 years, however, the community has been confronted by a rapidly changing society where modernity and tradition coexist uneasily. Traditional livelihoods are being lost as farmers in the villages are forced out into the cities as manual and construction workers. Mobile phones and television have also brought exposure to pornography and other detrimental outside influences.
In many respects it is good that these cases are gaining more prominence and being widely reported on main news channels in the UK – the BBC World Service, Sky News, BBC News have all covered this story extensively. James O’Brien on LBC, a London-based talk radio station, hosted a phone-in discussion about this case this morning. Anyone familiar with the Indian press though, will know that rape cases are reported almost daily, including gang rape cases. Just searching on the term ‘gang rape’ on the Times of India website this morning came up with 5 alleged gang rape incidents in the last 3 months alone. One was of a Danish woman in New Delhi, 3 of young girls in West Bengal and one of a Dalit girl in Haridwar District. 2 of the victims subsequently died from their injuries. These are almost certainly only the tip of the iceberg, however, as campaigners say fear of social ostracism or a prejudiced criminal justice system means perhaps only 1 in 100 of rapes are actually reported in India
Social media certainly seems to play a role here in highlighting these cases. Extensive mobile phone use - as well as bringing in pornography - also facilitates reporting and dissemination of incidents such as rape. One report or tweet can spread to mainstream domestic and international media very quickly. Hopefully this increased reporting and comparisons with the norms of behaviour in other more progressive parts of the world will serve to decrease such incidents, or at least cause the perpetrators to think twice before committing such crimes – knowing that images and reports could quickly reach national and international authorities. In addition, perpetrators might receive exemplary sentences on conviction to deter other such attacks.
I can immediately think of 2 possible reactions to this Western (including my) condemnation of such treatment of women in India:
Firstly, there will be the accusation of Western imperialism all over again – that we are trying to take the moral high ground in condemning such treatment of women in India, when actually we need to firstly take a look at ourselves and what happens here (in the UK) – such as with Jimmy Saville, a celebrity BBC presenter who abused young girls and boys over many decades, and his many hundreds of victims.
Secondly, the cultural relativists will complain that the West does not understand Indian culture, or the context in which the villagers in Birbhum support such judgments by the village elders. And in turn many in the West will worry about being branded ‘racist’ by criticising other cultural practices.
My response would be that such treatment of women is unacceptable in whatever country it takes place – the UK or India or wherever. The West is very far from perfect – it was not so long ago that many victims of domestic violence in the UK were dismissed by the police as ‘just being a domestic’. But thankfully times have changed, moved on to, I think, a better place in the UK where women do stand a better chance of respect and equality of treatment. Jimmy Saville was one individual who got away with his abuse because of a system too scared to confront him: but at least his victims now have some chance of recognition and redress.
I would not put ‘off limits’ any cultural practice that harms and abuses anyone – men, women or children. Female genital mutilation, selective female abortion and honour killing all take place in the UK, primarily in certain ethnic communities within the UK. Listen to this caller to LBC this morning – ‘Simon’ from Surbiton in London – who admitted almost having his daughter killed because she ran away with the ‘wrong’ man:
http://www.lbc.co.uk/i-almost-had-my-daughter-killed-after-she-fell-in-love-with-the-wrong-man-84935
It is quite chilling to hear his attempted justifications of honour and the need to protect his other daughters in reasoning why he thought about killing her. As it is, he changed his mind but nevertheless says despite loving her, he will cut her out of his life and never speak to her again.
There is really so much more work to do, both in the West, India and all over the world to protect basic human rights – we should not be complacent.
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