Uttar Pradesh- Capital of Crimes Against Women?

Continuing with CSR’s focus on Uttar Pradesh due to the ongoing elections, today we focus on crimes against women in the state.

When we began our research on the facts and figures pertaining to crimes against women in UP, the findings were dismal. According to the 2009 report of the National Crimes Research Bureau, the total number of reported crimes against women was 203804, with 23254 (11.4%) being in UP. This was the highest number of crimes all over the country. In 2010 out of a total of 213585 crimes against women, 20169 were in UP (9.44%), again the highest in the country. In an article published in the Hindustan Times in November 2011, it was reported that from the period between August 2011 to November 2011, the highest number of complaints of harassment and crimes against women received by the National Commission for Women, were from UP (2853 out of 2889).While these are official recorded figures, it is also important to remember that there may be many more crimes which go unreported, due to a number of factors, such as fear of family members, social stigma, and embarrassment of registering a case with the police.

Viewing pornography in the state assembly- is this what we voted for?

The recent uproar over the three BJP ministers in the Karnataka state assembly watching pornographic clips during assembly proceedings causes one to look closely at the issue of cyber pornography, and its legal as well as social implications.

While Indian statutes do not use the term ‘pornography’, the word ‘obscenity’ appears in Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as in Section 67 of the IT Act. Both these statutes essentially anything that is (a) lascivious (excites lust) or (b)appeals to the prurient interest (characterized by lustful thoughts) or, (c) if its effect is to deprave and corrupt persons would be considered to be ‘obscene’. It needs to be noted that while watching pornography is not illegal in India, the fact that the ministers were watching it during assembly proceedings, is a clear violation of the trust and faith put in them by the electorate. What appears hypocritical is that while our political leaders often give commentaries on morality, and the so called ‘ill effects’ of Westernization, they themselves engage in activities which are far from moral, especially since this particular incident occurred within a public domain.