Two new gang rape cases in India

**Garbarsardar** · January 14, 2013, 04:23 AM

After the now infamous gang rape case in December, two new gang rapes are being investigated by the Indian Police. It is astonishing that the first of those who happened on the heels of the Delhi one is almost a copycat rape.

Now rape is probably seriously under reported in developing countries and slightly over reported in developed ones so I don't know how much sense one can really make of statistics here.

The number of reported rapes is rising in India, steadily for the past 10 years, however the rate cannot be compared to that of Sweden, the US, UK, and much more that of South Africa.

I really wonder how one should approach this and how much religion and culture can be factored into that equation.

**craziii** · January 14, 2013, 04:29 AM

didn't a swedish female diplomat get rape in a car in india? when that didn't change anything, of course the rapists will get bolder. when the crime comes with near zero punishment, I am sure most will commit if given the opportunity.

**Condottiere 40K** · January 14, 2013, 04:48 AM

Statistically, this is a certainty.

What may be in transition is that the media generated outrage may be sufficient to change the culture enough to remove official complacency, as well generally to make it clear to most of the Indian people that it should neither be tolerated nor unreported.

**hellheaven1987** · January 14, 2013, 06:35 AM

Not as bad as South Africa though...

**~~Raubritter~~** · January 14, 2013, 07:06 AM

Allow these woman to carry guns.

**conon394** · January 14, 2013, 07:08 AM

I really wonder how one should approach this and how much religion and culture can be factored into that equation.

Although I think one thing to consider is the comparable rate of stranger rape and brutality to say 'date rape' in those numbers -

I don't minimize the emotional impact of either but there is a big difference between between say a wife in the US or Sweden who can report her husband for rape and the victim of a mass stranger gang rape in India that results in your death (and I rather sure in much of the world a husbands prerogative is not rape and she was asking for it is still a really good defense - hell that still works in Europe and the US).

In other words I like to see a good break down on what kind of rape and good numbers on under reporting or estimates of things that are rape in the US but not in India

**torongill** · January 14, 2013, 07:18 AM

Do not kid yourself, rape is underreported in the West as well. Statistically, the most reported form of rape - by a stranger, is also the most rare. IIRC, the overwhelming majority of rape is from someone you know - spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, relative or someone you just came to know(date rape for example). Most of these are not reported at all, because of the trauma and betrayal and because in a lot of societies women are taught to obey their husband.

South Africa is beyond description. Words fail me at the state of the Rainbow nation.

Yeah, let women carry guns. Does that help in the US? I mean how likely is it that a woman can grab her handgun from her purse when she's so roofied she can't tell the difference between Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky?

P.S. Not entirely connected to the topic I've been told by a friend working in criminal investigation you could practically reverse a charge of statutory rape(meaning consented sex with a minor) by pleading "she got me drunk and raped me".

**Col. Tartleton** · January 14, 2013, 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by torongill

Do not kid yourself, rape is underreported in the West as well. Statistically, the most reported form of rape - by a stranger, is also the most rare. IIRC, the overwhelming majority of rape is from someone you know - spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, relative or someone you just came to know(date rape for example). Most of these are not reported at all, because of the trauma and betrayal and because in a lot of societies women are taught to obey their husband.

South Africa is beyond description. Words fail me at the state of the Rainbow nation.

Yeah, let women carry guns. Does that help in the US? I mean how likely is it that a woman can grab her handgun from her purse when she's so roofied she can't tell the difference between Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky?

I think we're making too much of India's problems. They've got upwards of a billion people and growing and most people are still very poor. If India wasn't a rough and tumble frontier town sort of place where crazy

goes down it would be a thing no one could believe.

**hellheaven1987** · January 14, 2013, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by torongill

South Africa is beyond description. Words fail me at the state of the Rainbow nation.

Indeed, this article really makes you wonder what the heck is going on in SA.

Will South Africans ever be shocked by rape?

The 22 year old was still sitting inside the makeshift bar in Soweto, when the police came for him. It was a few days before new year.

According to witnesses, the man had just attacked and raped a 17-year-old girl at his table, but apparently considered the incident so trivial that he had not even tried to flee.

Nor had anyone else in the bar, besides the alleged victim, thought of contacting the police.

At a time when Indians are re-examining their society in the light of a single, horrific incident of gang rape, South Africa seems numb - unable to muster much more than a collective shrug in the face of almost unbelievably grim statistics - seemingly far worse than India's.

Here almost 60,000 rapes are reported to the police each year - more than double the number in India, in a far smaller country.

Experts believe the true figure is at least 10 times that - 600,000 attacks

It is not that the issue is ignored - far from it.

This week South African newspapers are carrying gruesome stories of what is being described as a new trend - the rape of elderly grandmothers, mostly in rural communities; an 82 year old and a 73 year old attacked on 2 January.

But despite the anger voiced by columnists, and by people calling in to radio stations, there is no sense of a nation being galvanised.

In recent days commentators and campaigners here have looked, almost enviously, towards India, wondering what it might take to provoke a similar sense of outrage - and angrily debating whether outrage itself is enough, and who, or what, to blame.

History, perhaps, or drugs, or poverty…

"No-one can tell me that raping a three-month-old baby or 87-year-old granny or burning a library or vandalising a school is caused by poverty," said trade union federation leader Zwelenzima Vavi, in a recent Tweet exchange.

"Rape is in our culture. It's part of the whole patriarchal culture," businesswoman and activist Andy Kawa, who was herself the victim of a gang rape, told me.

"It's an every day thing. It happens in homes. There's silence because of fear, because the perpetrator, most of the time, has the power," she said.

Source

**Fluttershy** · January 14, 2013, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by torongill

Do not kid yourself, rape is underreported in the West as well. Statistically, the most reported form of rape - by a stranger, is also the most rare. IIRC, the overwhelming majority of rape is from someone you know - spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, relative or someone you just came to know(date rape for example). Most of these are not reported at all, because of the trauma and betrayal and because in a lot of societies women are taught to obey their husband.

South Africa is beyond description. Words fail me at the state of the Rainbow nation.

Yeah, let women carry guns. Does that help in the US? I mean how likely is it that a woman can grab her handgun from her purse when she's so roofied she can't tell the difference between Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky?

P.S. Not entirely connected to the topic I've been told by a friend working in criminal investigation you could practically reverse a charge of statutory rape(meaning consented sex with a minor) by pleading "she got me drunk and raped me".

most women wont be able to tell the difference between gretzky or Jordan without a roofie

**The Despondent Mind** · January 14, 2013, 07:40 AM

More reasons not to visit India .

**~~Raubritter~~** · January 14, 2013, 08:44 AM

Does that help in the US?

Yeah.

If you had the chance to better your chances, would you take it?

**The Gurkhan** · January 14, 2013, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by The Vitiated Mind

More reasons not to visit India .

You fear for your rectum?

**Rijul.J.Ballal** · January 14, 2013, 08:58 AM

Yea its pretty bad here in India the worst part is the cops who very often don't care.

Although the cops themselves are very poorly treated...

**magpie** · January 14, 2013, 09:01 AM

Rape appears to be a serious problem in some Indian states.
Maybe as well there is a serious imbalance between females and male's due to infanticide of female babies.
Another nice habit is kidnapping of young girls and forcing them into marriage.

**Rijul.J.Ballal** · January 14, 2013, 09:03 AM

This too^

**conon394** · January 14, 2013, 10:35 AM

Do not kid yourself, rape is underreported in the West as well.

Indeed I am quite aware of that - but I was trying to get at the problem with he news and stats. There is a fair number of things that can be reported as rape in the West that are not in other places. In this case How does the rate of only violent stranger rape in India compare to say the UK or Russia or the US... that was what I was trying to get at and even more importantly corrected for the effect of indifferent police or reporting once you get into the she was asking for it or was a prostitute etc realm of actual non recording issues.

**Adhamh Ashashi** · January 14, 2013, 01:46 PM

The sad thing is I highly doubt this is a new phenomenon in India, I say it happens quite often but the media picked up on the infamous case because of it's grisly details and tragic outcome. And I highly doubt many people in the rest of the world particularly care about the rape cases in India. It's the sad truth.

However, what I am worried about is why the media in my country are spending so much time on these cases when there are horrendous cases of rape and sexual assault that occur here but are not dealt with, or when they are, incredibly leniently.

In a case about 2 months ago, a women was sexually assaulted and the perpetrator got away with paying 25,000 euro compensation and no prison sentence. Shocking stuff.