Caste Discrimination against India's âUntouchablesâ - Human Rights ...

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compared against the high number of atrocities reported against Dalits, speaks to the caste bias of prosecutors, as well as other organs of justice, including the judiciary. b. Failure to prosecute rape cases of Dalit women Dalit women, occupying the bottom of both the caste and gender hierarchies, are both uniquely susceptible to violence and particularly vulnerable to the infringements of their right to equal treatment before organs administering justice. Cases documented by the National Commission for Women, Human Rights Watch, local and national women’s rights organizations, and the press, overwhelmingly demonstrate a systemic pattern of impunity in attacks on Dalit women. 157 Dalit women are more likely to suffer violence and especially sexual violence, and are least likely to get redress in the courts. They are, in a sense, doubly victimized - first at the hands of their attackers, and then at the hands of judicial system that fails to offer them protection and redress. A Dalit woman who is a survivor of rape will face significant obstacles in bringing her case to the attention of the police, and, in turn, the courts. She will likely face ostracism from her community and family, and she will have difficulty gaining access to the justice system. 158 Further, even if a woman is able to surmount all these obstacles and convince the police to lodge a FIR, she will face new roadblocks at every step of the way. A Dalit woman is likely to be confronted with any of the following impediments to the successful prosecution of her case: unsympathetic doctors 159 and police officers, difficulty in finding witnesses who are willing to risk their own safety by testifying, police officers and prosecutors who are bribed or pressured by the (usually more powerful) attackers, as well as having her case misfiled under more lenient sections of the Indian Penal Code or not being simultaneously filed under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989. 160 The combined effect of these hurdles is such that, even if her case is properly investigated, a Dalit woman will likely find that her attackers have been granted impunity. 161 157 Human Rights Watch, Broken People, p. 166. 158 Ibid., p. 17. 159 Ibid., p. 170 (citing Rupande Panala, “When a Poor Woman Gets Raped,” Manushi (New Delhi) September - October 1990, p. 36). 160 Ibid., p. 172. 161 Ibid., p. 170. 51
In fact, as statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau demonstrate, conviction in rape cases is not only extremely rare, but becoming rarer - out of the total rape cases in which trials were completed between 1990-1993, in 1990 41.5 percent ended in conviction; the figure dropped to 34.2 percent in 1991 and to 33.8 percent in 1993. 162 The failings of the prosecutorial arm are further evident in the disproportionately large backlog of rape cases (on average, 80 percent of rape cases remained pending for trial in 1994 163 ) and the comparatively low levels of conviction for the crime of rape as compared with less serious crimes of burglary and theft. 164 Certain states have provided some compensation to Dalit rape victims. As per the 2002- 2003 Annual Report on the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, during the year 2002-2003, the state government of Madhya Pradesh incurred an expenditure of Rs. 28.5 lakhs [US$63,808] for providing relief to rape victims 165 , while the state of Maharashtra provided financial assistance in the amount of Rs. 19.68 lakhs [US$44,061]. 166 It should be noted that the prosecutorial failure to investigate, file, and pursue cases involving rape against Dalit women has an injurious effect not just on the individual woman harmed in each instance of sexual violence, but more broadly on women and Dalit communities in general - prosecutorial failures empower potential perpetrators by signaling that crimes against Dalit women will be rewarded with impunity and also further disempowers marginalized communities by eroding their trust in the judiciary. Finally, prosecutorial failures in the context of cases involving rape against Dalit women encourage the use of rape as a tool to punish and silence Dalit communities. 167 162 Ibid., pp. 170-171 (citing National Crime Records Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs), Crime in India 1994, as quoted in Sakshi, “Gender and Judges: A Judicial Point of View” (New Delhi, 1996), p. 9). 163 Ibid., p. 171 (citing National Crime Records Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs), Crime in India 1994, as quoted in Sakshi, “Gender and Judges: A Judicial Point of View” (New Delhi, 1996), p. 9). 164 Ibid. 165 Annual Report on the Atrocities Act for the year 2002-2003, p. 37. 166 Ibid., p. 43. 167 Human Rights Watch, Broken People, p. 175. 52
Page 1 and 2:
Hidden Apartheid was produced as a
Page 3 and 4: VII. Article 4: Eradicate propagand
Page 5 and 6: I. Summary List of the Critical Iss
Page 7 and 8: Article 2 India’s failure to ensu
Page 9 and 10: The NHRC has recommended that the g
Page 11 and 12: propaganda of the Sangh Parivar, wh
Page 13 and 14: The right to freedom of opinion and
Page 15 and 16: impediment to Dalits’ freedom to
Page 17 and 18: to education noted in his report be
Page 19 and 20: Article 7 There is a severe lack of
Page 21 and 22: Human Rights Watch An independent,
Page 23 and 24: The Committee itself has recognized
Page 25 and 26: IV. Response to India’s denial of
Page 27 and 28: to suffer disproportionately from m
Page 29 and 30: V. Article 2: States Parties’ obl
Page 31 and 32: interrogation of Dalits. Jurists, h
Page 33 and 34: Section 107 in excess of the maximu
Page 35 and 36: Bihar and Tamil Nadu conducted by H
Page 37 and 38: Atrocities Act, 1989. 83 Similarly,
Page 39 and 40: 2. Refrain from supporting private
Page 41 and 42: 4. Encourage integrationist movemen
Page 43 and 44: that these groups were poorly repre
Page 45 and 46: 4. Inadequate development and prote
Page 47 and 48: implemented. 130 The societal perce
Page 49 and 50: caste residents. 140 This segregati
Page 51 and 52: Muslims and Christians in India, 14
Page 53: A. Duty to ensure the right to equa
Page 57 and 58: Dalits’ right to equal treatment
Page 59 and 60: egistered in the state, with only 4
Page 61 and 62: Box 3: Offenses under the Preventio
Page 63 and 64: Box 4: Examples of retaliatory atta
Page 65 and 66: Vulnerability to sexual violence al
Page 67 and 68: C. Ensure Dalits’ political right
Page 69 and 70: een facing discrimination, intimida
Page 71 and 72: Box 6: Instances of Forced Displace
Page 73 and 74: caste system. Inter-marriages betwe
Page 75 and 76: off by her parents without her cons
Page 77 and 78: Denial of the right to own property
Page 79 and 80: difficult if not impossible. Finall
Page 81 and 82: 6. Ensure Dalits’ right to freedo
Page 83 and 84: The Ramabai Killings The Ramabai ki
Page 85 and 86: 1. Ensure Dalits’ rights to work,
Page 87 and 88: castes, 326 with the result that mo
Page 89 and 90: formulate and implement comprehensi
Page 91 and 92: c. Forced Migratory Labor The susce
Page 93 and 94: also fail to adequately address chi
Page 95 and 96: 3. Ensure Dalits’ right to housin
Page 97 and 98: upper-caste women than the Dalit wo
Page 99 and 100: Additionally, Dalit children are of
Page 101 and 102: overwhelmingly landless and engaged
Page 103 and 104: . Compulsory, exploitative, and deg
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c. Segregation in schools Segregati
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of sufficient water and adequate sa
Page 109 and 110:
(Indore district, Madhya Pradesh) t
Page 111 and 112:
ecause police will purposely downpl
Page 113 and 114:
exist. 483 School textbooks may sim
Page 115 and 116:
Acknowledgements Center for Human R
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