India's gang rape belt continues slide downhill

Western UP's notorious districts account for about half of all gang-rapes in the state

The alleged brutal gang-rape of four women in front of their husbands on the Bulandshahr-Jewar highway has again put the notorious region in the spotlight. This is the second such incident within a year in the same district. In July last year, a mother and daughter traveling by car from Noida were gang-raped while the men along with them were tied up in nearby fields. While the incident raises serious questions on law and order in UP, latest figures from the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) indicate that 14 per cent of all gang rapes in India were reported in just 26 districts of this fertile region in India’s most populous state. In 2014, there were 335 gang rapes reported in Western UP – more than half of all such instances in the state.

In fact, if adjoining districts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi are added to Western UP, this roughly circular contiguous area could well be called India’s gang rape belt. Stretching from Alwar in Rajasthan to Pilibhit on the eastern end of Western UP and including Delhi and the district of Mewat in Haryana, these districts have some of the highest gang rape and rape instances in India.

But among them all, Western UP continues to be a hotbed of various forms of crimes against women.  In Western UP, Meerut, Bijnor and Moradabad registered some of the highest cases of gang rape against women. It is not just the brutality of gang rape; this region also continues to record some of the highest cases of other violent crimes against women. More than 3,200 cases of rape – or almost half of all rape cases registered in UP were in these districts. Two-thirds of all rape attempt cases filed in the state were in these districts. Bulandshahr, where the four women were allegedly gang-raped, has been particularly notorious in this respect. Ghaziabad and Noida, which adjoin Delhi, recorded the highest number of custodial rape cases.

Almost 4,800 cases of kidnapping of women – roughly half of all cases in the state were reported in Western UP. Women were kidnapped for two reasons – to be murdered or to be forced into marriage (policemen say some cases are filed by relatives of runaway brides). There was only one case involving women being kidnapped for ransom. Close to 40 per cent of all dowry deaths in UP were also reported from these districts.

What is even more striking is that crimes designed to psychologically debilitate women like attempting to remove their clothes and stalking was also rampant in these districts. Almost 570 cases of attempts to assault a woman by disrobing them were reported in these districts. That’s more than half of all cases reported in the state. Almost a third of all cases of stalking were reported in Western UP – Ghaziabad again was most notorious when it came to cases of stalking registered by the police.

More than half of all women murdered or were attempted to be killed in the state were from this region.  More than half of all women on whom acid attacks were carried out in the state were also in these districts. All the cases of causing miscarriages to women without their consent were reported from Western UP.

Clearly, to be a woman in these districts in India is more than just a survival game.  Ironically, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now in power in these states. Specifically, Yogi Adityanath the BJP’s Chief Minister (CM) in UP had promised to make the state more safe for women. It might take more than just anti-romeo squads to prevent another Bulandshahr from repeating itself in India’s gang rape belt.