DH Radio | The Lead: The nexus between sexual violence and caste, Hathras rape case in focus

Over past week, the Hathras rape case has dominated the airwaves. Opposition parties have slammed the BJP govt headed by Yogi Adityanath for the way in which Dalits have been treated. However, one doesn't realise how pervasive the nexus between caste and sexual violence is in India. Listen in to Chetana Kumari P, a Dalit rights activist talk about the nexus.

Varsha Gowda: Hi, I'm Varsha Gowda and you're listening to The Lead by DH Radio. The Hathras incident is a gruesome example of caste-based violence that is not uncommon in India. It has provoked national outrage and this could be India, having its Dalit Rights Matter Movement in tandem with the Black Lives Matter movement in the West.
In conversation with me, Dalit activist Chetana Kumari P explains the context behind the movement. Welcome, Chetna.

Chetana Kumari P : Thank you. Thank you for having me today.

Varsha: Chetana, the Hathras incident has provoked national outrage because of the gruesome way in which the victim was treated both before and after the incident, but it is hardly an isolated incident. How pervasive is this problem?

Chetana: See, I think everybody knows that. This violence that has taken place in Hathras is not an isolated incident at all. It's been happening you know, for ages now, it has been happening in rural and in urban places, but unfortunately, it has been happening more in rural areas.

According to many researchers, if you see, you know, there are different researches that have been done like one research says, a Dalit woman is raped every five hours in India. Another report says 10 rapes happen every single day in India, that means to say, at this point in time when you're talking to me, there could be your rape that would be happening to a Dalit woman anywhere in India today.

And there are so many gruesome violent incidents that are been happening against Dalit women, men and children, and it has been happening. These are the official figures that I'm telling you, when I say four hours one rape or five hours one rape or 10 women that have been raped in India in one day, that is the official figure but so many people who don't go to the police station or other institutions and report these incidents that are happening that means to say, there is a big issue that is you know, that is facing our country right now. Dalit women are the vulnerable group in the world and this has been happening.

Hathras is just one of the incident that has come to light and we are not able to bear that.

Varsha: You did mention this issue of casteism only comes up in such violent crimes occur. Casual casteist behaviour often you know slips under the radar, do you have any personal experiences as a Dalit woman that you would like to share in this context to explain what kind of everyday casteist behaviour a person from a Dalit community has to face?

Chetana: Yes, we do, we do have to face a lot of discrimination on a daily basis. That is why I think most of us Dalits, many of them are leaving rural places or coming to urban areas, we are trying to hide our identities, we try to hide our identities as much as possible behind you know, behind the name of another caste we never do reveal to anybody at all.

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