By Khushal Khan 

India is the world’s most dangerous country for women due to high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labor, according to poll of global experts, Thomas Reuters Foundation. War-torn Afghanistan and Syria ranked second and third in the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of about 550 experts on women’s issues, followed by Somalia.

Respondents also ranked India the most dangerous country for women in terms of human trafficking, including sex slavery and domestic servitude, and for customary practices such as forced marriage, stoning and female infanticide.

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB) statistics 2022; 31,677 rape cases were registered in India with an average 86 cases are reported daily. Statista Research Department, over 28,000 rapes were reported in India in 2021. A 63% increase in crime against women has been reported in 2021, according to a news report published by an Indian newspaper. Referring to a diplomat news article, nearly 99% of rape and sexual assault case remains unreported.

“In India, a rape is reported every 15 minutes,” according to recently released official government crime data. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data from 2022 has stark revelations about crime in India. NCRB registered 428,278 cases of crimes against women.

Rape is being used as a state-sponsored tool by Indian forces in IIOJK. As reported by Asia Watch, “Rape has been used by Indian security personnel as a means to humiliate communities.”

In the 2013 report on mission to India, the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes, and Consequences said: “Women living in militarized zones such as IIOJK live in constant fear of siege / surveillance, whether in their homes or in public. Information received from both written and oral testimonies highlight use of mass rape, allegedly by members of the State security forces, as well as acts of enforced disappearance, killings and acts of torture and ill-treatment to intimidate and to counter act political opposition and insurgency… without any measures to ensure accountability and redress for victims.”

On 23rd February 1991, Indian troops carried out mass rape of women in Kunan Poshpora villages. They gang-raped around 150 women of all ages from eight to eighty years old during a search operation, rape has been frequently used by the security forces to terrorise the entire population of the disputed valley.

Kunan Poshpora incident was presented in Kashmir High court and Court ordered for the compensation of victims but it was challenged in Supreme Court and decision is still pending. It shows that “Justice delayed is Justice denied”. The book Kunan Poshpora published in 2016 authored by Essar, Ifrah, Samreena, Munaza and Natasha has also revealed horrific accounts of the victims.

As per the statics of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (AJK), since 1989, more than 11,144 rapes have been reported in occupied valley. The number of cases not reported could be more. Kashmiri HR activist / lawyer Parvez Imroz said that vast majority of cases of sexual harassment by Indian forces in IIOJK go unreported; given social fear of retribution by the State.

Amnesty International report in 1992 stated that rape is conducted during counter-offensives against militants as part of a bid to methodically shame local Kashmiri communities. Moreover, as per 1993 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Security Forces use rape as a method of retaliation against Kashmiri civilians during reprisal attacks after militants’ ambushes. Most rape / torture cases, according to the report, occurred during cordon-and-search operations by Security Forces.

At the 52nd UNCHR (1996), Professor William Baker gave testimony that rape in Kashmir was not merely a case of isolated incidents, rather security forces were actively deploying rape on Kashmiri populace as a method of humiliation.

In 2005, Médecins Sans Frontières concluded that rate of sexual violence against Kashmiri women was one of the highest among world’s conflict zones, with 11.6% of respondents reporting personal experience of sexual abuse. According to journalist Freny Manecksha, who tried to document conflict-related rapes in Kashmir in 2012-2013, remote location has left Kashmiris susceptible to sexual violence. Hafsa Kanjwal in South Asia Graduate Research Journal (SAGAR) wrote that Kashmiri women experience psychological problems due to Indian Security Forces’ inhuman action / victimization as being sympathizer to militants. The shame / humiliation leads to severe mental and psychological problems even resulting in breakdown of family system.

Modi’s Hindutva supremacist government continues to use rape as a ‘weapon of war’ and ‘collective punishment’ in IIOJK to suppress legitimate right to freedom of innocent Kashmiri people. The recent BBC documentary on Modi also highlights the same notion. It is a sheer violation of international humanitarian / human rights law and UNSC’s resolutions. The horrific acts of violence, mental torture, and ruthless brutalities against women have turned life into a worse nightmare for women in the valley. Apart from all this brutal treatment by Indian administration Kashmiri women have to pass through psychological disorders, economic restraints and extra judicial killings of their sons and husbands.

Such acts of barbarity warrant immediate attention of the International Human Rights Organizations specially UN. The international community must speak against these acts and support the suppressed Kashmiris In IIOJ&K. The victims of Kunan Poshpora  must be given justice and the perpetrators must be punished as per law.