New Delhi — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) Office for Scheduled Castes and Backward classes (SC/BC) is deeply shocked at the heinous crime of brutal attack, and condemned the rape and cruel murder of a 29 year old Dalit woman who was a law student at Perumbavur, Kerala on April 28.
The Secretary of the CBCI office for SC/BC Fr. Devasagayaraj in statement to the press said that “We are also sorry to know it took a week for the media to report and the police to act and come out with the post mortem report which shows that the victim sustained 38 injuries, apart from being smothered and strangulated.”
The statement continued, “The situation of this Dalit victim’s family which lived in abject poverty in an isolated hut covered by asbestos sheets, with no toilet and no water shows the condition of thousands of Dalit families in India that live in poverty and outside the social security net brought about by lower caste status.”
This incident continues the discourse on gender violence, women’s safety and caste discrimination in our caste ridden and patriarchal Indian society.
In modern India, violence against women and discrimination against Dalits continue to remain pervasive. Worse, these crimes are on the rise.
The statement concluded saying “We urge the state Government to render justice to the victim’s family and demand the Central Government to ensure safety and security to Dalit women, alleviate the poverty of Dalits by having inclusive development policies and take all measures to stop all discriminatory practices against Dalits.”