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So, how were you raped?...

...Cops ask a survivor while registering an FIR or during an investigation. Police officers often put the victim under insensitive scrutiny. And, at times, some do not even pursue such complaints as they, including the family, doubt the victim's claims. DNA takes a closer look into the lives of rape victims who faced this bias but still chose to fight on

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"Ek raat mein kitni baar hua? Sirf ek ne kiya? …beta choro... aage shaadi waadi bhi honi hai. (How many times did he do it in one night? Only one person did it? Forget the case, you need to think about your marriage too)."
These uncomfortable questions and unsolicited advice of a Delhi Police officer to a rape survivor added to her scars.

Two years do not seem enough to wipe the marks of the trauma the 18-year-old suffered. Sitting on a charpaai, in a badly ventilated ground floor room of a two-storey house, the girl says, "This is the only space where I feel one with myself. The rest of the house, where the family stays, reminds me of the horror."

The constant nagging by the police and the uncomfortable questions, which have no answers, have also led her family to doubt her sometimes.

"Each family member has several questions to ask. I wish the police had done their job properly in the first place, at least my family would have stood by me then. This half-hearted and a shoddy effort by the police has only created a trust deficit within the family," she says.

"Even the neighbours have shunned us. We don't receive any invites from anyone. My father insists that I devote my time in prayer as it is the only way out. My parents pray at least four times a day. Life has become a living hell for all of us," she says, as tears roll down her cheeks.

Pratibha, who was raped at gun point, feels nervous about even stepping out of the house for petty chores like grocery shopping. Several efforts by the family to teach her to ride a two–wheeler have also failed.

"We ask her to learn to ride the two-wheeler so that she does have to even walk till the Metro station or the bus stop. But, she feels jittery," says the mother who feels that her daughter's pain can only give her daughter the courage to live on and keep fighting.

"If the police had done their job right, at least our case would have been stronger. But, they kept accusing her of elopement," the mother adds.

Pratibha was 16 when she was abducted by her neighbour and raped before being dumped on the road in outer Delhi two years ago.

She recalls the horror when she had entered the police station, hoping that she will be patiently heard by the gate keepers of law.

"I went to the police station and was telling them what had happened when one of the police officers went on and on about how it will be a problem in the future and how it would affect my marriage prospects. My parents, who were embarrassed by their questions, kept their heads low," Pratibha tells DNA.

In the last two years, she has barely stepped out of her house, except going to the court for her case's hearing.

Repeating the incidents of that dreadful night has scarred me even more but to make sure that my tormentor is behind bars, I am willing to go through hell, over and over again, she says.

She had to answer questions like how many times she was raped, if it was only one man or many raping her, and why it was she who was 'chosen' to be raped. And not just once, such questions were asked by the investigating officers repeatedly.

When her struggle did not end there, she eventually had to request for the investigation officer to be changed.

She remembers seeing her rapist again, in the police station, and how he had looked at her. The man's piercing glare had sent jitters down her spine.

She says there was no fear of the law in that man.

The accused had even intercepted her brother once and fired in the air to scare him.

"What if my brother had died? Who would have been responsible?" Pratibha asks.

When she had approached the cops about the same, they had said, "We enquired about the pistol. The accused does not own one."

"It is so disheartening to see that the police officers don't trust you at all. In my case, the investigating officer did not even object to the accused's bail. Although he was not allowed to come within a radius of 50 metres of my house, we would see him circling my house often. My family then forbid me from stepping out. When we told the police, they took our complaint very lightly," she says.

Nothing Has Changed

The brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2012 triggered a public outcry over women's safety, forcing the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government to act and change laws.

Known as the Nirbhaya rape case, the gruesome act finally led to more stringent legislation while dealing with crimes against women. The Supreme Court, last week, upheld the death penalty of all the convicts in the Nirbhaya case.

Despite more stringent laws, the reality is still chilling and ualtered. The social stigma, associated with such cases, hasn't changed. The attitude of the cops while handling such investigations hasn't changed. More importantly, the number of crimes committed against women hasn't changed.

Victim hounding and shaming is still the norm and it is normal for the police to question everything that a rape victim says, just like in Pratibha's case.

Pratibha and her family members are still fighting for justice in the court. It's been almost a year and her final statements in the court are yet to be recorded.

Yogita Bhayana, an activist working for child and women welfare says that cross–questioning the claims of the survivors is a common practice by the police. "The police is the first point of contact for a rape or a sexual assault survivor. If they start judging them and making comments like 'you must have consented' or that the victim knew the accused beforehand. There has been reforms after the Nirbhaya incident but it's all on paper. The practice of cross-questioning still continues," she says.

Police Apathy

While Delhi accounts for 40 per cent of rape cases in 19 major cities of the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, the police maintains that the rising number of rape cases indicate that more cases are being reported, which is a positive sign.

There has been a 31 per cent rise in incidents of rape in the last five years in the Capital.

"In Delhi, more cases are registered compared to other states where the police simply refuses and turns away the victims," a Delhi Police officer claims.

The dismal rate of conviction, 18.9 per cent, in cases of crimes against women across the country is the lowest in a decade and a grim reminder of how the police and the judiciary handle such cases.

However, Pratibha's ordeal is not a one off in the Capital. Rape victims find it tough to deal with police which constantly puts them under glare.

Even when Kirti, a minor suffering from a mental disorder, became the victim to a man's savagery when tied up her legs and arms before raping her, the police questioned the family over why there was a three-month delay in reporting the case. The incident took place last year.

The family lived in fear and was apprehensive of social stigma as the accused was from the same neighbourhood.

It's only when the girl complained of pain in her private parts after which the parents found out that she was raped.

The family claims that the police officers took the child to a hospital but made the family sign a paper stating that the minor does not want an internal medical examination.

The family believes that the accused will go scot free as the cops were able to fool them with the medical process.

Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), PRO, says that the Delhi Police makes all the possible efforts to ensure women in the Capital are safe. "The police officers are also regularly trained in how to deal with a rape victim, especially if they are minors. They are also being sensitised about the new laws, including The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012," Verma says.

The police claims, however, don't match the victims' and their families' accounts.

No Good For The Good Samaritan

A rape victim's uncle, who was pursuing her case, was murdered by the accused who was out on bail.

He was abducted and killed before the rape accused dumped his body.

Suresh's brother, Kamlesh, says that his wife does not know how to fend for family of two minors.

"He was killed as the rape accused thought that it was Suresh who was a hurdle in settling the case," Kamlesh says.

The accused was forcing the South Delhi-based family to agree to an 'out-of-court' settlement worth Rs 20 lakh.

The lawyers representing rape victims also have similar thoughts to share.

Sanjeev Ojha, a lawyer who deals with POCSO and rape cases, says that the social stigma in the society makes sure that the victim feels like a criminal. "The victim turns into an accused. Even the police officers, at times, think the woman is at fault or that it must have been a case of personal enmity or maybe aapas ka jhagda. All these things discourage the complainant and the family. In some cases, the family refuses to support the victim after a point in time, making it even tougher for the victim to pursue her case," he says.

In December last year, a teacher at a language school was assaulted while she was walking on the terrace of her office building. The accused locked the terrace door, pushed her after sexually assaulting the woman and later fled with her mobile phone.

The victim had approached the police and lodged a complaint then. But, the accused remains absconding till date. Verma, who is also DCP of New Delhi, when asked about the progress of the case, said that they have not been able to find the accused.

"From gathering evidence from the crime scene to questioning hundreds of people, the police officers did it all. The sketch of the accused was also prepared, yet there was no breakthrough," Verma said. The cops are now planning to file a closure report soon.

The prejudice with which the cops see a rape victim is the biggest hurdle in implementing the stringent laws that, currently, exist only on paper. Senior police officers admit that there is still a long way to go for the mindsets to change. It is this bias and the way a victim is questioned that often lead to poor investigation, resulting in low conviction rate as the investigators fail to build strong cases.

The Residue

Although cops say they are only doing their job by asking such brutal but necessary questions during a probe, the truth remains that public and police apathy is still rampant. The dismal rate of conviction is proof of the fact that more sensitisation and awareness programmes are needed to be put in place. However, what really will make a difference is a changed beviour of the society towards such cases. What we need is more sympathy, action, and intolerance towards such heinous crime, not indifference and mediocrity. For even if the conviction rate goes up gradually, a rape survivor will forever be scarred by the way she was treated during her fight for justice.

(All names have been changed to protect the identity of the survivors and their families)

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