On 19th November, WSS conducted a conference bringing together feminists from various backgrounds to speak on the growing sexual and casteist violence against Dalit women. The panel focused on the role of the Manuvaadi state in weaponising sexual assault and violence against Bahujans and marginalised minorities.
4. State’s response to Sexual Assault
Seema Azad brought to the forefront the vastly different ways in which the State dealt with cases of rape and murder of Dalit women. On one hand, in the Hathras case, state forces in Uttar Pradesh tried their very best to shield the accused who were from an “upper caste” background. They took many efforts to remove evidence and it was only after there was massive uproar across the country that the police made any arrests. Rapists often burn the bodies of victims to erase evidence, but the increasing instances of police doing the same is deeply concerning.
But very same UP Government and police responded very differently to a case where a 22 year old Dalit woman was allegedly drugged and raped by two muslim men and sent home with broken legs in an auto in Balrampur. In this case, the UP Government said that they intend to file National Security Act against the accused. The BJP Government, especially in UP, disproportionately uses NSA against muslims.
