2nd July 2013
As an organization working for the rights of women and children, Women Action for Development (WAD) has been actively monitoring the rising crime against women in the state for the past few decades. We are shocked by the enormity and gruesomeness of the acts of violence being committed against the women of the state, and we cannot help being concerned about the future of the society where one half of the population is increasingly waging an unequal war against the other half, that is women, by beating them, raping them, and killing them both at home and outside.
The atrocities and violence committed to women and girls are not only by unwanted anti-social elements; such illegal acts are very often committed by the state actors also. Despite all the laws and decrees which had been passed for the protection of women, the increasing incidents of gender-based violence is utterly depressing.
Even during the last few years, that is between 2010 and 2013, we have been witnessing a meteoric rise in the number of crime against women and the girl child. (We are attaching a detailed list of some of the incidents along with this statement.)A number of women have become the victim of rape, molestation, kidnapping, forced marriage, torture, murder, etc between 2010 and 2013. However, no chargesheets have been filed in most of the cases, and in a majority of the cases, the victims has not been given justice. It was only in the recent case of the gang-rape of chilly vendor Jamthailiu that fast-track judgment was given and the accused were given life imprisonment. While we express our gratitude for this, at the same time, it is highly recommended that Jamthailiu’s case should not be a rare occasion, and all women who have been victimized should get speedy justice to deter repeated occurrence of such acts of violence against women in the future.
Some of the major cases are highlighted in the enclosure.
So far 15 days has passed since the Monsoon session of our assembly session began, but unfortunately, the issue of increasing crime against women and children, as well as the gender budget has not being discussed in the ongoing sessions. We question whether our resptected MLAs are working only for the benefit of the males in their regions. We further ask whether they think that the women in their constituencies are not human beings, and if this is the case, is it alright if the women stop voting for any of the candidates altogether?
we therefore as an organization working for the cause of women and child deeply urge the Honourable 60 MLAs of our state including three women MLAs to kindly put up the issue of crime against women and children in the remaining days of assembly session. We also urge the session to kindly pass the gender budget and initiate special mechanism to deal with such heinous crimes against women in order to ensure justice to the unfortunate women and children of our society.
We remain hopeful that our respected representatives will hear the cries of the women in the state and consider the above requests.
Sincerely Yours
Sobita Mangsatabam
Secreatary
List of Victims as per recorded from local newspaper (48 between Dec-2006 and June- 2013) – Download PDF file
