Domestic Violence Against Women Underreported in India: Survey
Along with the physical abuse, 14 percent Indian women will have experienced emotional abuse at some point in time in their lives. The percentage of women who reported injuries as a result of physical violence is estimated to be some 31 percent of married women from Tripura, 20 percent from Bihar, 19 percent from Assam and 15 percent from Uttarakhand. Most cases with less severe domestic violence are reported by women in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tripura, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
As per the 2009 figures of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) the states with the high rates of death due to dowry issues per 100,000 people are Bihar, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, in descending order. These states that shows the highest reported dowry deaths, have the lowest rate of cases recorded for domestic violence presenting the underreported cases of violence that exist in the country.
The analysis of the NCRB data indicates that in many parts of the country the domestic violence reported by women in national surveys never make it to the police or the courts. The deficit of the cases reported is surprisingly low, where as the violence has led to many deaths yet no strict code has been maintained to curb the situation and enforced law which establishes a system where the culprits think before inflicting such violence on women at home.
