From Nirbhaya to Moumita: Why India’s system still fails to protect women

The growing concern of crime against women has been a constant issue in India. After the Nirbhaya case, the people expected the government to come up with policies that safeguard women but with another rape case in Kolkata the Government and the judiciary are under scrutiny for not taking proper actions against crimes against women. 

A 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was found dead on August 9. Initially, the parents of the girl said that she had committed suicide but after further investigation, it was revealed that she was sexually assaulted and harassed by a hospital staff member. This ignited a protest in Kolkata demanding justice and a rigid structure to be implemented to safeguard the women of our country. 

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There are various sections under the IPC, CRPC and Evidence Act for the protection of women but they are not rigid enough as the crimes still persist. There has also been a constant pattern of shroud work on the side of the police in rape cases which leads to the victim not getting any justice hence leading the masses of the country to forcefully demand justice. Capital punishment and public punishment that happen in other countries are the only possible solutions to stop crime against women in India, said MV Kartik, an Advocate. 

Despite having laws that are made specifically to protect women, these heinous crimes have not stopped, rather the victims are mostly blamed in such situations or important evidence is tampered with during the investigations to protect the reputation of the criminal. “It’s a shame that the state government is blaming the victim and they are trying to erase the evidence. And the CBI needs to move expeditiously”, he added. 

“There should be more stringent punishments. The system is in place but the punishments don’t instil fear into the person who even thinks he can do something of this sort. Only if that fear is instilled, they will not do anything out of fear of the consequences”, said Kartik. 

The doctors and the protesters demanded more rigid and fair policies to punish the criminals involved in the rape case. Many took to social media to demand justice for the doctor and have created a hashtag for it at X called #justiceformoumitadebnath.