The idea of home as a safe haven seems to have become an elusive myth. That is what emerged from the figures in the 2023 report of the National Crime Records Bureau. Crimes against women and children have increased; those against children have grown by 9.2% since 2022. Cases of torture of women for dowry have increased 14% in one year, and more than 6,100 women died during 2023 for reasons of dowry. Among murders reported by the NCRB, 833 out of 27,721 cases were caused by dowry demands. This shows that neither the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 nor the Protection of Women from the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 have deterred marital relatives from torture and murder. Laws may have an educative value but when they deal with deep-rooted or traditional social evils, they become ineffectual unless society itself undergoes a change. With the spread of education, the demand for dowry seems particularly striking.

The NCRB report shows that in 2023, 4,48,211 crimes were committed against women, the greatest number being recorded in Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 29.8% were perpetrated by husbands and close relatives. This is without marital rape being considered a crime and taking into account the under-reporting of crimes against women. There were 29,670 recorded incidents of rape in spite of these limitations. Although there were no dowry cases reported from West Bengal — a good sign — 57 of 207 acid-throwing incidents occurred in the state. That is no less cruel than dowry torture; the damage can be irredeemable. The records give no indication of crimes occurring in natal homes. These can be unsafe as well. Honour killings — India is not immune to this malaise — are an extreme symptom of this.

The child is not safe at home either. Instead of nurture and care in every home, there were 1,77,335 crimes against children in 2023. Of these, 38.2% were sexual crimes punishable under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Twelve to 18-year-old children were shown to be most vulnerable to sexual crime. In 96% of the cases, the child knew the perpetrator. This is an alarming indicator, perhaps destroying the myth of home as haven for good. The recent formulation — 2012 — of the POCSO law shows institutional unwillingness to recognise crimes against children. This unwillingness regarding crimes against women and children still persists. At the end of the year, 32.2% of the crimes against children remained without police investigation. At the same time, 83,327 cases under the dowry prohibition law were awaiting hearing; of these 69,434 cases were inherited from earlier years. Of the crimes against women, 90.8% were under the lower courts at the end of 2023. A huge bulk of cases seems to roll from year to year in spite of strictures and promises to fast-track cases of crimes against women and children. It is the same attitude of callousness and direct or indirect cruelty that inform the home which, too, is an institution built on ideals of patriarchal power.