The political and law-enforcement establishment’s response to the rape cases in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh offered more grim corroboration of the deep-seated institutional indifference to crimes against women in India. In both tragedies, the crimes themselves, one of them of unsurpassed brutality, have been subordinated to political and communal agendas. The fact that both rapes allegedly involve members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is neither here nor there. Far deeper cause for concern has been the attempt to protect the accused and the complicity of the police in suppressing evidence.
Charges against
