It has been over a month of ongoing protests by doctors of RG Kar Medical College, Kolkatta, up in arms against the brutal rape and murder of the 31-year-old doctor last month. The Supreme Court had to take suo moto cognizance, the CBI had to take over the case and the Trinamool Congress(TMC) led government in state, headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, also had to take out a protest march itself against the heinous crime, which shocked the entire nation.
But this malaise has its roots more deep rooted than thought of. The parliament where policy makers come together to ensure good governance and the state assemblies where legislators assemble to make rules for their state’s smooth functioning, have several accused of Crimes against Women, seated comfortably therein. In such a situation, thinking of a country where the Nari Shakti would have a secure existence seems to be a mere fallacy.
At least this is what the report prepared by poll rights body Association of Democratic Rights (ADR) and National Election Watch reveal. As per the analysis carried out on affidavits of 755 sitting MPs and 3938 sitting MLAs, a shocking 151 sitting MPs and MLAs were found to have declared cases related to crimes against women.
Among these 151 sitting MPs and MLAs with declared cases related to Crimes against women, 16 are sitting MPs and 135 are sitting MLAs.
Charges against sitting MP/MLAs in Crimes against women
The 151 sitting MPs/MLAs having declared cases of Crimes against women have charges related to assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354); Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc. (IPC Section-366); rape (IPC Section-376); Whoever commits rape repeatedly on the same woman, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, but may extend to imprisonment (IPC Section-376(2)(n)); Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty (IPC Section-498A); Buying minor for purposes of prostitution, etc. (IPC Section-373) and word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman (IPC Section-509).
State-wise sitting MPs/MLAs with cases related to Crimes against women
Among the states, West Bengal has the highest number of sitting MPs/ MLAs i.e., 25 with declared cases of Crimes against women, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 21 and Odisha with 17 such tainted sitting MPs/MLAs. The top-10 list of states with maximum number of tainted MPs/MLAs include Delhi (13), Maharashtra (13), Bihar (9), Karnataka (7), Rajasthan (6), Madhya Pradesh (5), Kerala (5) and Telangana (5).
Other states with respective count of tainted sitting MPs/ MLAs include Tamil Nadu (4), Uttar Pradesh (4), Gujarat (3), Jharkhand (3), Punjab( 3), Assam (2), Goa (2) besides Manipur (1) and Himachal Pradesh (1), respectively.
Party-wise sitting MPs/MLAs with cases related to Crimes against women
The top-10 political parties with highest number of tainted sitting MPs/ MLAs having declared cases of Crimes against women has BJP on the top spot with 53 including 10 MPs and 43 MLAs, followed by Congress on second spot with 23, including 21 MP and 2 MLAs while TDP has 17 such tainted policy makers, all MLAs. Other political parties on the list with respective count of tainted MP/MLA include AAP (13), AITC (10), Independent (6), RJD (5), SHS (3), BJD (2), DMK (2), Jansena (2), SP (2) respectively.
The other political parties with tainted public representatives include YSRCP (2) besides the 10 regional parties having one tainted MLA each include AIUDF, Bharat Adivasi Party, CPI (M), CPI (ML)(L), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), JD (U), NCP, Prahar Janshakti Party, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.
Parties with tainted MP/MLAs having declared cases related to rape
As per the ADR report, a total of 15 public representatives of 8 political parties have declared cases related to rape. Of these, Congress has the highest count of 5 such tainted public representatives followed by BJP (2), AAP (1), AITC (1), AIUDF (1), Bharat Adivasi Party (1), BJD (1) and TDP (1) respectively.
Recommendations made by the poll watch body
All major political parties give tickets to candidates with cases of crimes against women especially rape therefore hinders safety and dignity of women as citizens. These are serious cases where charges have been framed and cognizance has been taken by the courts. These figures reveal the grave malaise and travesty in our political system where the rich and powerful MPs/MLAs with cases related to crime against women are able to subvert the system, use their influence to interfere with the police investigations, use the judicial delays to their advantage and in some cases continuously harass the victims and their families. In view of the same Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch strongly recommends the following.
• Candidates with a criminal background should be debarred from contesting elections.
• As directed by Supreme Court in February 2020, Political parties should declare reasons why candidates with criminal cases are given tickets to contest elections.
• Court Cases against MPs and MLAs should be fast tracked and decided upon in a time bound manner with court monitored professional and thorough investigation by Police.
• Voters should desist from electing candidates with self-declared cases related to crime against women and other heinous crimes.
Top-10 political parties having MPs/MLAs with cases of Crimes against women
| Political parties | MPs/MLAs |
| BJP | 53 |
| Congress | 23 |
| TDP | 17 |
| AAP | 13 |
| AITC | 10 |
| Independent | 6 |
| RJD | 5 |
| SHS | 3 |
| BJD | 2 |
| DMK | 2 |
