About a year ago, a female doctor was raped and murdered in RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata. The fire of the matter had not even cooled down when a similar incident happened in Durgapur, another city of West Bengal. Here a student of a private medical college was gang-raped. Amidst the serious condition of the student, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s statement added fuel to the fire. Expressing grief over the incident, the CM did not forget to add that the victim was out at night!
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for many years continuously Kolkata Considered the safest city of the country. Here, about 90 crimes were registered per one lakh population, which is less as compared to the rest.
The study says that before 2016, there was more crime here, but after that the crime rate started decreasing. It was even placed among the few safest cities for women. It was claimed that women can come and go here safely late at night. But now including Kolkata west bengal The dent in the security system of all the big cities of India is clearly visible. Especially when a statement is coming from a responsible position like CM that women should not roam at night, or should be cautious in deserted areas.
Last year in August, a female doctor was raped and murdered in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College. After this, protests continued in Kolkata for months. The victim’s parents also accused the CM of insensitivity. In July this year, a case of gang rape of a law college student of Kolkata came to light.
Now a similar incident has happened in Durgapur. A private medical college student was gang-raped on October 10, after which her condition remains critical. West Bengal is increasingly under siege regarding women’s safety. Even in the most crime-free cities of the country, its status has gone down.
What does the report of the National Commission for Women say?
The latest report of the National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI), a branch of the National Commission for Women (NCW), has arrived. Its results are shocking. Kohima, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, Gangtok and Itanagar were placed on top in women safety. Kolkata is now included in the most unsafe areas. Cities like Delhi, Jaipur, Faridabad, Srinagar and Ranchi are in the category of Kolkata.
This survey was released in August after conversations with approximately thirteen thousand women from 31 cities. Women had to mark their city on degrees like better, better, less, much less while comparing it with the national safety score. In the survey, Kolkata was declared the most unsafe city. This is when very few women who have suffered sexual violence complain about it, or even talk about it openly. The National Crime Records Bureau also believes that two out of three women who are victims of abuse remain silent about it.
Public transport has become very unsafe. Seven percent of women admitted that they had faced violence while traveling in public transport. Whereas for women under 24 years of age this figure doubled. Traveling late at night increases this risk manifold.
Is the problem caused by illegal immigrants?
For some time, there have been continuous allegations that the population of outsiders has increased in the entire state including Kolkata. Allegedly infiltrators are coming from Bangladesh, who turn to crime when they are unable to adjust to the mainstream. It is difficult to tell the exact number of infiltrators in the state. According to different sources, since many of these people leave the state and spread to other parts of the country, it is not possible to determine the exact figure. The Home Ministry had said in the report of the year 2022 that the porousness of the India-Bangladesh border has become a big challenge. Along with illegal migration, activities like smuggling are also going on through this route.
Lack of police force is also the reason
Due to shortage of police force in the state, Civic Volunteer Scheme was started. These are the common people who help the police. Like handling the situation during traffic, festival, election or VIP movement. These are local people, who also get allowances. Although this scheme was introduced to create a win-win situation, more flaws started appearing in it. Like these people started practicing power by wearing police uniform. Convict Sanjay Roy himself was a volunteer in RG Kar Hospital. After this, questions began to arise that instead of increasing the force according to the population, the state started appointing youth as volunteers without training.
Weak action on registered cases
There are less trials in the crimes registered in the state, and its conviction rate is even lower. In the year 2021, the police recorded approximately 4.45 lakh cases against women. Of these, only 5 percent trials were completed. And the culprit was punished only in seven hundred and fifty cases. This is the lowest among all the states and union territories. To avoid this situation, women do not even go to the police against crime.
What else is changing in Kolkata?
– In some areas of the city, such as around Salt Lake and Park Street, there is very little police presence late at night.
– Metro or buses stop early at night. Women returning late at night have to either take a cab or walk through deserted roads, which increases insecurity.
– The borders of the state were considered very sensitive, where the National Investigation Agency often conducts raids to establish contacts with terrorist organizations.
– News of drug trafficking kept coming in the areas adjacent to the border. Kaliachak of Malda has been compared to Afghanistan, where smuggling of drugs and weapons takes place.
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