Who gets raped?

Everyone. According to some statistics, only one in 69 rape cases in India are even reported. Only 20 % of those reported result in convictions for the rape accused.

Rapes happen across the social strata in India. In the Indian villages, it is the poor villager's wife or sister or daughter who gets raped by another poor rowdy villager, and everyone from the local thanedar to the landlord. These rapes, unless the news becomes public due to unavoidable reasons, are never reported. It is reported in the newspapers or reaches the police only when a rape becomes part of a larger caste battle, family feud or political game. We do not hear about the massive number of them happening all the time. The media will report a rape only when it is a different kind of rape - a 'normal' rape is not news. The police, even when they get to know of a rape, or even when a rape victim approaches them, almost always discourages the family from filing a complaint. Often they are threatened, if the alleged rapist is someone in a powerful position. Some other times, the police reminds the victim's family of the social repercussions and attention (and permanent social humiliation, no marriages for anyone else in the family etc. etc) and the victim returns home to wash away all evidence of the crime.

Everyone from little girls - six month old children's rapes are becoming routine now - to grandmothers are raped. Age is no barrier.

Class is no barrier either. The rich, the educated, woman has no safety either. These are the rapes we notice. Because often, the rape becomes public in some unexpected way. Even these rapes are hushed up - and the victim herself in this case pretty well understands the consequences of outing the criminal. Family and acquaintances are often rapists - fathers, uncles, cousins. These are almost always treated as a matter of family honour and token punishment (the rapist may get slapped or sent out of town) is meted out to the rapist.

In rapes that occur in Indian families, the males and females are equally to blame as everyone supports each other and the rapist for the sake of family honour. It is only the rape victim who has no chance of justice. In a cruel way, this often forces the rape victim to accept rape as an unfortunate occasional occurance within all families, and she herself may acquiesce in hushing up another rape tomorrow.