India in shock over rape of 86-year-old grandmother

Tens of thousands of rapes are reported each year in India, but some stand out as deeply disturbing.

In one particularly shocking case, police in the capital Delhi arrested a man in his 30s for raping and assaulting an 86-year-old grandmother.

“The woman was waiting outside her home on Monday night for the milkman when her attacker approached her,” Swati Maliwal, director of the Delhi Women’s Commission, told the BBC.

“He told her that her regular milk delivery man would not come and offered to take her to the place where she could get milk.”

The octogenarian confidently accompanied him, Maliwal said, adding that he took her to a nearby farm where he raped her.

“She kept crying and begging him to leave her. He told her she was like her grandmother. But he ignored her pleas and ruthlessly assaulted her when she tried to resist and protect herself,” Maliwal said.

Passing local villagers heard her screams and rescued her. They turned the assailant over to the police.

Maliwal, who visited the survivor at her home on Tuesday, described her encounter as “heartbreaking.”

“Her hands are totally wrinkled. You are surprised when you hear what happened. She has bruises on her face and all over her body and she told me she had vaginal bleeding. She suffers extreme trauma.”

Ms Maliwal has demanded the death penalty for the attacker, whom she described as “non-human”.

“I am writing to the Chief Justice of Delhi and the Deputy Governor of the city to expedite the case and hang it in six months,” he said.

Rape and sexual violence have been in the limelight in India since December 2012, when a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi.

He died a few days later from injuries sustained during the assault. Four of the accused were hanged in March.

But despite increased scrutiny of sex crimes, their number continues to rise.

According to the National Bureau of Criminal Records, the police recorded 33,977 rape cases in India in 2018, which is equivalent to one rape every 15 minutes. But activists say the actual numbers are much higher as many cases are not even reported.

And not all are news, only the most brutal or shocking appear in the press.

As women’s activist Yogita Bhayana points out, no age group is safe.

“I have met a one-month-old girl and 60-year-old women who have been raped,” says Ms Bhayana, who works for People Against Rapes in India (Pari), an NGO that works with survivors.

Following the global outcry over the brutality of Delhi bus rape in December 2012, India introduced tough new laws against rape, including the death penalty in especially horrific cases, and vowed to establish fast-track courts to try rape cases.

But, activists say, things haven’t changed much on the ground.

“The situation has not changed because protecting women and girls should be at the top of the government’s priority list, but it is not even there,” says Ms Bhayana.

“India talks about external security, but I ask you what about internal security. What are you doing to ensure the safety of women and girls?”

Ms. Bhayana says that over the years, she has written more than 100 letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking justice for rape victims, but has not received a single response.

“Why don’t you talk about it?” she asks.

“When we find out about these violations, our heads are ashamed,” he said.

“In every home, parents ask their daughters many questions about where she is going, when she will return and they ask her to inform them when she reaches her destination.

“But have you ever asked your son where he is going, why he is going and who his friends are? After all, the person committing the rape is also someone’s son,” she said, advising parents that watch your children.

In the largely feudal and patriarchal society of India, this was seen as innovative.

Ms. Bhayana says that “there is no magic wand, nothing” that can make this GBV problem go away overnight.

She says there is a lot to change: police and judicial reform, greater awareness of police and lawyers, and better forensic tools.

“But above all, we need gender awareness, we have to work to change the mindset, to prevent such crimes from happening in the first place.”

And that’s a tough question, he adds.

“There is no indication that any government, be it the Delhi government or the federal government, is serious about fighting gender-based violence.

“I’ve worked in the field for eight years. I’ve never met anyone who takes the issue seriously.”

Ms Bhayana says that there are billboards in public places on all kinds of topics, on various government achievements, on Covid-19 or on warnings to people against drug use.

“But have you ever seen a hoarding in any city on rape or gender-based violence?” she asks.

“We often see billboards with Modi’s favorite slogan”, Beti bachao, beti padhao [Educate daughters, save daughters]. I say why don’t we change it to Beta padhao, beti bachao [Educate your sons, save daughters]? “