Former beauty queen allegedly groped by politician.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: A casual glimpse of India’s records of crime against women is abysmal. Take the case of the capital city of New Delhi, where security is supposed to be the tightest in the country: the figures are alarming – as against 590 rape cases registered in 2012, the police this year has already registered 1,330 such cases, a spurt of nearly 250%. But molestation cases appear to have skyrocketed. This year, police have already lodged 2,844 cases, an increase of over 500%.
Added to these macabre statistics is the role of those in authority. In recent times, at least six members of India’s state legislatures have been charged with rape and 36 other local politicians for crimes against women, including sexual abuse and assault. Two members of India’s national Parliament also have been charged for sexual abuse and assault, the non-profit organization, Association for Democratic Reforms, say.
Its founder Jagdeep Chhokar said the number of politicians in India’s 552-member Lok Sabha in Parliament who are facing criminal charges, including rape, has increased. B.G Verghese, an independent political analyst said the public and political outrage at the gang rape of a 23-year-old student who died last year rings hollow as long as parties continue to allow alleged rapists to represent them.
The Election Commission of India, the country’s election watchdog, does not have the power to reject the candidatures of politicians facing criminal charges. In many cases the trials of those charged with crimes take years to begin, and when they do, can often drag on for decades. On top of this India’s police often is wary of taking action against an accused if that person belongs to a political party. “You never know whether that person will be elected and come to power as a legislator,” Chhokar says.
It is against such a backdrop that an actress and a former beauty queen from Kerala, Shweta Menon, dropped her complaint of molestation against Congress MP N Peethambara Kurup, saying the 71-year-old leader tendered a “personal apology” to her hours after she lodged a police complaint against him.
The Congress MP’s apology came following an uproar in the wake of video footage of the incident and opposition demanding that action be taken against him.
On his part, Kurup thanked the 39-year-old actress, who came third in a Miss India contest, for withdrawing her complaint against him.
Menon had earlier stated that she stood by the charge against Kurup in her statement given to the police. Earlier, the police had registered a case against Kurup charging him under (Indian Penal Code) IPC sections 354 and 354 (A) for assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty. The incident took place during the boat race in Ashtamudi Lake at Kollam, to which she was invited as a guest on Saturday.
[Photo courtesy of ShwetaMenon.com]
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