Women excel in all spheres but continue to suffer: When will her plight be over?

The Delhi High Court on Monday upheld the life term awarded to a man for killing his wife in 2011. Th court while giving the verdict made a very astonishing observation and said that "married women in India are safer on the street than in their matrimonial homes."

One should understand the gravity of the matter when a High Court makes such an observation. The figures of crime against women are continuously rising. And when we talk about how to bring this number down, our respected leaders don't leave the opportunity to reflect heir expertise. Many of them in the past have advocated the fact that women should not step out of home late in nights and have also implied that women should stay in their homes if they want to be safe.

But the questions which now rises after the High Court's observation is are women safe in their homes?

Crime against women is continuously rising in the county and if we take a look at the figures of the same, then one would not be astonished to know that crime against a woman is committed every three minutes.

And if we talk about violence against women in India of which domestic violence is also a part, then the figures will again not astonish you as 70% of women are victims of domestic violence.

Today, it is no longer a man's world and people think that with the empowerment of women and with 'She' participating in all the fields, the crimes against her will come down. But that is not really the case as today also the crime against women not only in India but also in the world is on the rise.

Domestic violence and crime against women in India

As per the National Crime Records Bureau, a crime against a woman is committed every three minutes, a woman is raped every 29 minutes, a dowry death occurs every 77 minutes, and one case of cruelty committed by either the husband or relative of the husband occurs every nine minutes.

Women are legally protected from domestic abuse under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, but still such things continue to happen today. Why?

Married women safer on street than homes, says High Court

In India, crime against woman is committed every three minutes

A bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Mukta Gupta dismissed an appeal filed by Pradeep, who was convicted by the trial court for murdering his wife in 2011, on the ground that he was absconding from the spot of crime which was proof of his guilt. While giving the judgement the bench made following observations:

"It is trite that where a wife is murdered in her matrimonial house and the presence of husband is established, law casts an obligation on the husband to explain how his wife died and if he does not do so an adverse inference can be drawn against the husband of being the assailant," the bench said.

"More so in India, for the reason we find that the every tenth murder appeal we are hearing has the husband before us as the convicted accused. The victim is the wife. The place of the crime is the matrimonial house," the bench said.

"The other nine out of ten murder appeals which we are dealing with has the place of the crime outside the house and the victim is a male. It appears that married women in India are safer on the street than in their matrimonial homes," a Delhi HC bench said.

No safe haven for women

Women are always given the list of do's and dont's whenever the talks of rising crimes against women comes to fore. They are told to do this , don't do that, don't go there, don't talk to such people, don't wear this etc etc. But by telling women to behave in a particular way and to walk and talk in a specific way will not help the cause.

No safe havens can be created for women until and unless we all take responsibilities and perform the duties which we as a society should perform. Besides society it is also the duty of our government to bring such stern systems which will prevent such incidents from happening. They should create such fear amongst the perpetrators that they think twice before committing such heinous acts.