INDIA

India Has A Problem

⏱ Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes

Yo, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone familiar with India, but India has a bit of a rape problem. I’m not sure if y’all have seen this video of the Brazilian woman and her husband who were attacked, and the woman gang-raped. After visiting a bunch of other countries and riding through them, they thought, ‘Hey, you know what would be a nice idea? Let’s maybe motorcycle through the land where every movie is a magical musical, the country synonymous with Eastern spirituality and yoga, the place where saying you visited an ashram rewards you 2,000 points on Yogi reviews and gets you 10% off on your next pair of pants from Lululemon, the home of damn elephant carriages, rat temples, and the ever-amazing caste system.’

Unfortunately, they came to know what many of us have known growing up: that India ain’t exactly a kind or safe place for a woman. Fernanda posted this video on her Instagram detailing the horrific events where she was raped by several men and her husband beaten. The video went viral as the internet rallied behind her, which led to her being asked to take the video down, as it would, quote-unquote, ‘hurt her case,’ which is actually a kind of blackmail-y move. Stop embarrassing us in front of the world if you want any kind of justice requested.

Unfortunately for India, the video is now out there, and there’s no putting it back. Unfortunately for the couple, at the time of making this video, police have caught some of the alleged scumbags. And Fernanda isn’t the first bright-eyed traveler to encounter this, either. Back in 2023, just last year, during Holi celebrations, a Japanese woman who was live-streaming her adventures was also molested by random men. Locals aren’t exactly any safer. The country grew absolutely outraged not that many years ago when the story of a young girl who was severely gang-raped on a bus in Delhi came out back in 2012. 22-year-old Jyoti Singh and a friend got on a bus after a night out at the movies. After paying their fare, they realized the bus had deviated off course. When they confronted the driver, a fight broke loose, and her friend was knocked unconscious. She was then barbarically raped, eventually leading to her death. In that case, police had charged several men, and after several years in courts, four of those men were eventually and rightfully hung.

Violence against women in India is so bad, though, that it gets started by attacking them right in the womb, with the country having one of the highest, if not the highest, female feticide rates in the world. I’m not a social studies major, but I feel like it shouldn’t be that much of a stretch to suggest that a lot of these problems stem from just how big a chunk of Indian culture views women as property versus people. A patriarchal system so ingrained that it makes old, old-school white Evangelical conservatives blush. But, like I said, what the hell do I know about diagnosing such things?

And it’s not just women who aren’t safe. In some regions, even the local wildlife and livestock aren’t safe. Like, what the hell are some of these headlines? ‘Four men arrested in raping Bengal monitor lizard in Western India.’ ‘Pregnant goat dies after being gang-raped by eight men in India.’ ‘Dog dies after being gang-raped by four men in India.’ ‘Four men arrested for raping a cow calf after video went viral on social media.’

Like I said, I don’t know much, but what I do know is that this shit is pretty messed up and worth calling out, especially when authorities would rather it be covered up and the victims not say anything. And it’s more than just an issue that needs addressing; it’s a deeply ingrained societal cancer, a blight on humanity that shames an entire nation. It’s not just about the women who are victims of these heinous crimes, either; it’s about the culture that allows it to happen, that turns a blind eye, that silences the voices crying out for justice, one that is hopefully changing, albeit maybe not fast enough. The authorities can try to sweep it under the rug as much as they want, but the truth has a way of surfacing, especially in this digital age. The world is watching, and the pressure is mounting.

And don’t get me wrong, this ain’t a ‘Punjab is better than India’ type video. Punjabis, too, carry these burdens. It’s why pages like the Kaur Movement on Instagram are so vital and ought to be praised for their service. But they say the first step to solving any problem is admitting that there is one, and I think way too often, things like this get just a shoulder shrug, ‘Damn, that sucks,’ type reaction, and then an internal rationalizing begins, even calling it cultural growing pains. To that end, I hope with the world’s eyes on the story that justice is delivered, but hey, I’m just another random voice on the internet adding my voice to the clamor, wanting justice for the victims and hoping for the best. Till then, stay safe out there. Peace.

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updated_at 31-07-2025
Ai Disclosure: The above posts were transcribed using AI tools. Some language may not have been accurately transcribed.
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