http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Violence-against-women-in-Gujarat-belies-states-projection-as-safe-haven-for-women/289869/
Violence against women in Gujarat belies state's projection as safe haven for women DP Bhattacharya Posted online: Saturday , March 29, 2008 at 12:35:19 Ahmedabad, March 28 In a span of twelve years, more than 50,000 cases of violence against women have been reported from 12 districts of Gujarat. With 640 dowry deaths and 1,443 rape cases, the chart is topped by a staggering 14,998 cases of cruelty by husband and in laws, followed by accidental deaths, which is pegged at 14,631 cases. Navsarjan, a city based NGO has made a compilation of these numbers from across the 12 districts of Bhavnagar, Banaskantha, Kutch, Junagadh, Sabarkantha, Patan, Surat, Rajkot, Valsad, Amreli, Vadodara and Gandhinagar for the period from January 1, 1995 to October 31, 2007. The data also shows that as many as 4,030 cases of attempted rapes have surfaced during the same period. The report said 7,894 women committed suicide and 3,006 women were abducted during this period in these districts. "In all, we have 53,395 cases of violence against women registered during this period," said Manjula Pradeep, executive director, Navsarjan. "These are the data from just 12 districts, which we obtained through filing applications under the RTI Act, and even then most of the cases of violence against women go unreported," said Pradeep. "If these figures are anything to go by, one can easily reach the conclusion on how safe women are in Gujarat, which is projected as one of the safest sates for women," she added. Talking to Newsline, Pradeep further said that while cases of violence against women are rather large in number, there has been a significant rise in the cases of atrocities on Dalits by members of dominant castes. "In a span of nine months, that is between April and December 2007, there were as many as 225 cases of atrocities against Dalits in Gujarat," said Pradeep, adding that while 6 dalit women were raped in Banaskantha, Mehsana, there have been nine cases of attempted rape and four murders and four cases of social boycott in the state with one each in Patan and Bharuch and two cases in Surendranagar. "On the one hand, the state government has set up fast track courts to deal with the atrocity cases, but the fact is that the conviction rate in these cases is just about two percent." Pradeep said.
