Selective Outrage: Women as Victims and Villains

In the contemporary Indian socio-legal society, crimes being committed and their portrayal by media have shaped public opinion and influenced their perspectives towards gender and criminality. Two recent cases i.e. the honeymoon murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, allegedly orchestrated by his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, and the gang-rape of a 20-year-old woman on Gopalpur beach in Odisha by a group of ten men, including minors have sparked debate. These cases differ vastly because of its nature and facts but these cases have lightened a shift in perception as wherein crime committed by women fuels into sweeping blanket statement that women today are more of criminal-minded, even as the statistical data available clearly indicates that there’s a sharp and continuous rise in the crimes which are committed against women specifically in India.

| Selective Outrage: Women as Victims and Villains |

In May’25, country was shaken up by the news of Raja Raghuvanshi’s murder while on honeymoon in Meghalaya. The detail of the case reveals a love affair, and betrayal of trust in sacramental tie of marriage which quickly gained intense media attention with headlines and social media portraying it a symbol of how women in this modern day are dangerous and calculative. Investigation revealed that wife of deceased had conspired with other people to carry out the crime and was a well-planned murder. Suddenly, social media was flooded with posts suggesting that society should rethink in trusting women.

Alongside, another chilling case unfolded in Odisha, where a 20-year-old college student was gang-raped on Gopalpur beach by ten men, including four minors. This incident attracted public outrage, with statements of officials and intervention by the National Commission for Women, and widespread media reporting. Irrespective of the horrifying nature of this crime, the narrative remained the same as of the previous cases highlighting the danger women faces and urgent need for better safety mechanisms.

Likewise, Raghuvanshi’s murder case, this case did not spark up any larger commentary regarding the nature of men, although men are more indulged and responsible for majority of such crimes being committed. Moral panic which women has to face is not new to the society, the fact that in this age of social media it has magnified. Single crime committed by a woman generates an avalanche of misogynistic rhetoric that baselessly tars all women.

India recorded 4,45,256 crimes against women in 2022, up 4% from the last year, with mistreatment by husbands and family members being the most common type, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The crime rate was 66.4 for per 100,000 women. In sharp contrast, men committed more than 94% of violent crimes, while women made up only about 5% of those detained for major felonies. The overall data confirms that women continue to be disproportionately affected by systematic violence, even in the face of a few high-profile cases involving women. Furthermore, even though 72% of suicide cases in 2021 involved men, this is more indicative of mental health issues than a rise in violence committed by women.

The narrative being more ‘criminal-minded’ or ‘untrustworthy’ is not only narrow but more harmful. Just one to two sensational cases cannot define a gender as crime is a flaw by a human and not gendered trait. Where society continues to struggle with entrenched gender biases, isolated incidents like Raghuvanshi’s murder case are often unfairly generalised to represent an entire gender. The impartiality and evidence-based nature of the criminal justice system are put to the test in these two cases. Law enforcement must steer clear of gender-based presumptions in the Raghuvanshi’s murder case and concentrate on the act’s illegality rather than the accused’s identity. In the meanwhile, it is crucial to provide prompt justice and support for survivors in the Gopalpur gang rape case, particularly in light of the public outcry and media attention.

Conclusion

India is reaching a turning point wherein on the one hand, women are becoming more visible, independent, and assertive. On the other hand, skewed narratives of distrust and treachery are a manifestation of the public fear surrounding this change. We are reminded of the precarious tightrope we tread between empowerment and exploitation, justice and bias, and truth and perception by the comparison of the Sonam Raghuvanshi and Gopalpur instances. We must provide the legal system- the freedom to operate without interference from society. Justice ought to be evidence-based, gender-neutral, and sympathetic to the actual victims. Strong institutions, balanced understanding, and most importantly, a refusal to generalise human behaviour based on gender, are urgently needed.