The 21-day-long lockdown may keep women safe from coronavirus, but it has pushed a lot of them towards something equally grievous- domestic violence and sexual harassment. In the past ten days of lockdown i.e., between 23 March to 1 April, a total of 257 cases of crime against women were registered online, according to the data by the National Commission for Women. To get a context, between the period 02 March and 08 March, a total of 116 cases of crimes against women were registered. On the increasing number of domestic violence cases during the lockdown, Rekha Sharma, Chairperson National Commission for Women, says, “I am receiving one or two complaints of domestic violence every day, directly on my email ID. Today itself I received a complaint from a woman in Nainital that her husband is beating her, abusing her, but she cannot go to her home in Delhi. She doesn’t even want to go to the police, because she says, if the police take her husband, her in-laws will be torturing her. Because of the lockdown, women are not able to go to the police and they don’t want to, because they’re afraid that if their husband comes out after a day or two, he will again beat them and they cannot move out.”

Key Takeaways:

1. A total of 257 cases of crime against women were registered in the first ten days of lockdown. The data has been recorded for the duration between 23 March to 1 April.
2. 77 Cases were registered under the right to live with dignity. 
3. 69 cases have been registered under ‘Protection Of Women From Domestic Violence.’
4. 16 cases of police apathy against women have also come to light, while 20 cases haven’t been categorized yet.

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News Credit: https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/india-lockdown-crime-women-rise