International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory, Vol. 7, No. 2, December 2014, 1-10 1 A Critical Evaluation of Violence against Women in India ____________________________________________________________________ R. N. Mangoli 1 Nandini G. Devarmani 2 Abstract The increasing intolerance towards women is supported by the latest annual data compiled by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) New Delhi. Analyzing the major crime trend over the years, the NCRB comes up with an alarming feature, which is that crime against women has seen 873 per cent rise since the last 40 years. The Bureau arrived at this statistic after comparing the data on number of cases registered in 1971 (2,487) with those in 2011 (24,206). This is more than three times of the total crimes that were taken cognizance of by the authorities. The present paper tries to critically evaluate the seriousness of shameful crime against women in India in the present Law and Order scenario of the country with suggestions. Introduction It is shameful to say that crimes against women in India, is going on increasing. This includes rape, molestation, harassment, domestic violence and dowry harassment that routinely embarrass the nation. Such Physical abuse of women also poses a serious barrier to gender equality. In India, women constitute nearly fifty percent of our population and violence against women is growing as a violation of human rights, which threaten the very existence of women as an independent entities. Newspapers and periodicals of all hues in India often carry reports about violence against women, which includes the incidents of young brides being burnt for dowry, women being in abnormal circumstances, rapes on hapless women and molestation of young girls (Dargad and Mangoli 2011). The most widespread form of violence against women appears to be the domestic violence, in the form of harassment, torture, or murder of young married women in their marital homes by the husband and in-laws. It affects middle class women most, without being absent in other classes. Rape, on the other hand, appears to be predominant among the poor, particularly in urban hutment colonies. An important category of rape is that committed by the enforcement authorities: police, army, or government officials. Riots also provoked attacks against women (UNESCO Bangkok 1993). 1 School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Rani Channamma Uinversity, Belagavi, drmangoli.rn@gmail.com 2 School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Rani Channamma Uinversity, Belagavi, ngdevarmani@yahoo.co.in brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory (IJCST - York University)