The father of a seven-year-old girl had to go through a lot to get an FIR filed at Vinayak Nagar, under Wilson Garden police station limits, against the school cab driver Madhu (23), who raped his daughter on December 9.

He told the media that some politicians, relatives of the cab driver, tried to prevent him from lodging an FIR. The offence was registered against the culprit only after the man wept before the media.



In April, 2005, a 30-year-old woman was gang-raped inside the Jnanabharathi campus of Bangalore University right in front of her children, when she was returning home in the night from Parappana Agrahara, where her husband was lodged. The criminals forced themselves on her at knife-point.

The woman decided to lodge an FIR with the Girinagar police. The response received from the police? Inspector Venkataswamy took down the FIR in a casual manner.  It was only after the much hue and cry that the inspector was suspended on April 30. But the victim’s problems did not end here. She had to take her children and go underground, since the accused threatened her to withdraw her complaint.

Since 2004, 142 rape cases have been registered in Bangalore. There have been convictions only in two cases. In seven of the cases, the accused have been acquitted; 32 cases are under investigation, there are seven undetected rape cases and 81 pending trial cases(see table).

Low conviction rate
Why is the conviction rate low? Public relations officer of Bangalore police, and deputy commissioner of police (DCP) N D Mulla says that the conviction rate is usually low due to lack of vital evidence. “In a majority of cases, the victim approaches us very late and stops appearing for the hearing, fearing she would be asked questions which she may find difficult to answer,” he adds.
Retired High Court judge, Justice H Rangavittalachar, lamented the status of women in slums and construction sites where their cries rarely reach the ears of ‘civilised society’. The retired judge blamed deficiency in investigation and the lack of proper presentation of the case in the court, as leading to the acquittals.
“On many occasions, victims are responsible for not
approaching police and undergoing a medical
examination within 24 hours of the incident, leading to the loss of the vital evidence,” he said.
He also referred to a study on low conviction rate, undertaken in Thiruvananthapuram. The study gives 71 different causes behind acquittals. It also gives special weightage to the threats - which turns not only the witnesses, but also victims hostile.

Fear of stigma

A police inspector posted in Bangalore referred to one such case. A schoolgirl, was allegedly raped in 1996 while
returning from her tuition classes. The matter was reported to police in time, and police got enough evidence to nail the criminals.
But when the case went for trial, the victim herself turned hostile, stating that the signature on the FIR was not hers. As a result, the accused were acquitted.
Later, it was learnt that the family feared that more coverage to the incident would affect her elder sister’s marriage, which was to take place in the near future. The accused had threatened that they would tarnish her image further.
Shakun of Vimochana, an NGO, criticises Indian society - which believes that the girl loses her chastity once her virginity is lost. “Why is an innocent victim punished for the misdeeds of the criminals? Such attitude prevents girls from lodging complaints and sending criminals behind the bars. If the matter becomes public, people look at her in a strange way,” said Shakun.
Hostile enquiries
About seven years ago, a girl waiting for a bus at the Jayanagar bus stop was gangraped. Shakun took the victim to the police station to lodge a complaint.
“A sub-inspector heard the entire case and then asked us to go to the writer to lodge a complaint.
Despite the fact that we had a written complaint we had to narrate the
entire story once again, to a head constable. After narrating the whole story, we learnt that he too was not the writer, but a head constable in mufti. We had to narrate the story from the beginning to the writer again - for the third time, in the same police station. This time we saw a number of policemen thronging to listen to her painful story. The crowd left the place when I voiced my displeasure against their misbehaviour,” said Shakun.
A majority of the police officers of inspector and DySP rank, whose investigation in the rape cases had led to the
conviction of the accused, believed that materials from the spot are not seized properly, as per the procedure laid down in CrPC and police manual. They viewed that the biggest challenge before policemen is to prevent evidences from contamination.
“When we have scientific means of investigation like DNA test, we should be very cautious in collecting materials that gives us the DNA profile of the criminal,” said an inspector.
They strongly suggested that the statement should be recorded in the presence of a woman
police officer at a place convenient to the victim.  They viewed that the questions asked by the victim should be indirect, open-ended and persuasive.
The ex-chairperson of the Karnataka Women’s Commission Pramila Nesargi advocated videographed hearing to avoid victims coming to the court and reveal her identity to everyone.
Justice Rangavittalacha said victim’s statement is considered as a major evidence against the rapist, so victims should speak out.


Shattered family

Her life  has been shattered.  Her husband has deserted her after she was raped about two months ago.  He himself is leading a life in solitude at Bandemane Ashrama. Her two sons--one studying in SSLC and another one is Class 7- are away from her, growing at their aunt’s place at Kamakshipalya. Her mother-in-law is staying along at Kodigehalli. The woman on the other hand is under medication at her parental house at athriguppe.
Till the intervening night of October 16 and 17, this year this 33-year-old was living happily with her
husband, two sons and mother-in-law at Kodigehalli under Tavarekere police station limits. A dozen youths broke the window panes asking them to open the door. The frightened family members obeyed them. The youths not only robbed their valuables but also gangraped her right in front of her husband, two sons and mother-in-law. All the accused of the case- Kariya, Srinivasa, Chandru, Dharma, Kuppa and Muniyappa have been
arrested and have been remanded to judicial custody. Her mother-in-law said she had asked her son to bring his wife back but he is unwilling, fearing that she may be carrying uncurable diseases.