Crime against Dalits: Civil Rights Violation and Atrocities in India

Most societies have at some time in their development witnessed violent crimes, caused civil and human rights violation, injuries, death and impoverished of their assets. Though crime does take place in the process of change, and particularly so when radical shifts take place in the traditional social and power relations, the oppressed who question the social relation become its victims.   The crime against dalits, in this sense, has long been a historical fact and continues to be an unfortunate feature of contemporary India.

Historically, India has highly stratified social structure with a hierarchy of castes and predetermined and hierarchical division of rights (civil, human and economic rights) among the castes.  However, not every caste suffered in the same degree from the scheme of the caste system. The caste located at the top of the caste order, namely the Brahmin have overwhelming rights and the untouchable (dalits) who are placed at the bottom of the caste hierarchy had no choice except to serve the high caste as labour.  (Thorat and Deshpande 1999).

This hierarchical order castes and rights had provision of strong social ostracism supported by social and religious norms. While the first two of them defined and laid down the framework of the caste system, the third prescribed the social mechanism of its enforcements.  The social ostracism normally takes the form of numerous penalties, social and economic boycott to various types of physical punishments to the low caste untouchables who challenge the traditional norms. In other words, the violation of the customary rules and practices invite violent crime against the dalits by other castes. This feature of strong ostracism for the enforcement of caste system plays an important role in continuity of the system despite the changes in the legal framework in contemporary India.

After Independence, the Constitution of India provides legal safeguard in the interests of dalits from civil rights violation and atrocities. The major legal enactments are:  (i) Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 was enacted in furtherance of Article 17 of the Constitution to abolish untouchability and its practice in any form. Further, in order to check and deter crimes against Dalits by persons belonging to other Communities, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was enacted.

The PCR Act, 1955 prescribe punishment for untouchability means the practices evolved as social restrictions in sharing food, access to public places, offering prayers and performing religious services, entry in temple and other public places and denial of access to health services and drinking water sources, etc. Despite this measure to protect dalits civil rights, they still denied a number of other human and economic rights and are subjected to various offences, humiliation and harassment.

They have been, in several brutal instances, deprived of their life and property. Serious atrocities are committed against them for various historical, social and economic reasons. It was realized that even the amended Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and normal provisions of IPC did not provide deterrence in preventing violence on dalits especially offences committed on caste grounds.  Accordingly, the parliament passed second legal measure - Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The Rules under the Act were framed in 1995 to prevent commission of atrocities against members of the Schedules Castes and Tribes, to provide for special courts for the trial of such offences and for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of such offences.

The discussion here is focus on progress of these two legal safeguards and patterns of crime against dalits since inception of these tow legal measures. In order to do this analysis, we used the data from the report on Crime in India published by the National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Government of India and National Human Rights Commission Annual Reports.

First we look at the data on civil rights violation cases registered since 1955. Figure 1 shows that number of cases registered was very low right from the inception of the Act, but increased only from the year 1972 and a substantial increase from 1975 to 1976. However, the numbers of registered cases are showing a progressive decline over the years and their number has gone down considerably at present 2004.  

Secondly, the data on atrocities against dalits shows that during last decade (1994-2004), more than one lakh (exactly 109505 incidences) cases of atrocities were registered countrywide under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989.  According figure 2 indicates that there was a progress in preventing atrocity during last decade. Number of cases registered was about fifteen thousand in 1994 and there was declining trend during the period 1995 -2000 as about only seven thousand cases were registered. However, the numbers of registered cases are showing increase during 2001 and decalining thereafter up to 2003. Again in 2004 there was an increase (about 9 per cent) in atrocities as compare to previous year 2003.

The report has also provides data on other type of crimes classified Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) such as murder, hurt , rape, kidnapping robbery etc. committed against dalits.  According to the report, the year 2004 has witnessed an increase of 2.4 per cent in crime against dalits as 26,252 cases reported in 2003 have increased to 26,887 cases in 2004. This increase was observed in all heads under which data of crime against dalits (SCs) were collected except hurt and civil rights violation. This showed a drastic decline of 42.6 percent in 2004 over 2003. Of the total crimes against dalits (26,887) reported in the country, atrocity incidence has accounted for about 33% (4,699) of the total crimes followed by other crimes under IPC 43 percent, hurt 14.2 per cent, rape 4 percent and murder 2.4 per cent.

A stable kind trend has been observed during 1994 to 2000 in cases of various crimes committed against dalits. As shows in the figure 3, there was gradual increase in various kinds of crime on dalits from the year 2001.  There was an increase of 11 per cent in murder cases and 6 per cent in rape cases in 2004 as compare to 2003.

Generally, these statistical details may lead to the conclusion that the problem of untouchability is gradually disappearing, atrocities are less but other crimes on dalits needs to checked and stopped.  But the other view that was expressed by National Commission for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in its Sixth Report was that the declining number of cases under Protection of Civil Rights Act and Prevention Atrocity Act does not represent a marked reduction in the practice of untouchability and atrocities. Rather, it is a reflection on the ineffectiveness of law (NHRC 2004).

Further a number of primary studies have been carried out on the practice of untouchability and atrocities committed against dalits during the last 20 years or so emphasises the ineffectiveness of law and evidenced on continuing untouchability practices, atrocities and other crimes on dalits.  Four such studies covering States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Gujarat referred to in a paper bring out that the untouchability practices continue in various forms though there is some reduction in respect of some practices. (see Thorat 2002)

The foregoing analysis based on the secondary data revels that the enactment of these two major laws could helped in some extent in abolishing untouchability and preventing atrocities.  However, limitation of these laws such as lack of political enthusiasm and the commitment of the bureaucracy in the implementation as pointed out by various studies need to be rectified.  Moreover, awareness campaigns among dalits for their rights have to be strengthened. The Government would support and work with NGOs like National Campaign for Dalits Human Rights (NCDHR) to monitor and advocate for dalits civil and human rights. There also need to be commissioned systematic studies to investigate the progress of these two laws and to inquire about what factors contribute atrocities and what could be substantial and sustainable solutions.