Two years after Dec 16, activists say no decrease in sexual crimes despite amended laws

Women's rights activist Malini Bhattacharya on Tuesday said that although there have been some positive changes in the law since the December 16 gang rape that shook the nation two years ago, incidents of sexual violence against women have still not gone down.

"On one hand there has been a change in the law which women's movement has been wanting for a long time. So some positive change has certainly taken place in the law. At the same time we find that there has been there has been no let in such incidents, there has been no decrease in the incidents of sexual violence," Bhattacharya told ANI here.

Earlier today, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shaina NC said that a befitting tribute to Nirbhaya would be when we use the technology available to us.

"We still have a 1000 cr Nirbhaya fund to be utilized; befitting tribute to her would be if we use technology available to us," she said.

On December 16, 2012 a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was brutally gang raped by six men, including a juvenile, in a bus. The woman later succumbed to grave intestinal injuries at a Singapore hospital, where she had been airlifted for specialised treatment.

The four adults accused in the case were awarded the death penalty on September 13, 2013, with the Delhi High Court upholding the death penalty in March 2014.

The case is currently with the Supreme Court after the convicts appealed against the judgment.