Every 18 Minutes, A Woman Is Raped In India: So Why Is Nobody Angry Enough?

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]I am probably going to get cancelled for saying this, but India is not a safe place to live as a woman. And I'm not saying this as an activist. I am saying this as a journalist. A woman who reports these stories almost every single day. I read the FIRs. I see the crime scene photographs, [music] and I hear those mothers crying in the interviews. And honestly, at this point, I am scared, too. Every time a woman dies in this country, we just call it another [music] another headline, another statistic, another girl forgotten. Twisha was 33 years old.

[00:00:38]Aarti was 40. [music] Aishwarya was 24.

[00:00:41]Deepika was 24. Sanju was 23, and Gudia was just 22. These are not just numbers, guys. These are the women who were murdered in 1 week by the very people who promised to protect them. [music] And the reason?

[00:00:58]Dowry, ego, control, and power. A pregnant woman, listen this one very carefully. [music] A 3-months pregnant woman, her husband shoved a 27-cm iron rod inside her body, hit her head repeatedly with a wooden stick till her skull fractured. And then, [music] he dragged her body behind his bike and tried to call it as an accident. [music] Read that again. This was not a stranger. This man was her husband. In UP, a man murdered his wife because he wanted another marriage. In Bareilly, a woman had acid thrown on her because she rejected a marriage proposal. And in Bangalore, a boyfriend strangled his girlfriend just because she asked [music] for marriage. So, now you tell me, what exactly are women supposed to do? Because apparently, neither a yes saves us, nor a no. And before someone comments, not all men, let me remind you that the NCRB data says that 97% of crimes against women [music] are committed by someone they know.

[00:02:04]Husband, boyfriend, a relative, neighbor, or a friend. That is the scariest part. Women are now not scared of dark roads anymore. We are scared of the familiar people, the familiar faces.

[00:02:18]More than 83,000 dowry cases are still pending in the Indian courts. Over 2 lakh rape cases are waiting for justice.

[00:02:27]Every year nearly 7,000 [music] women die because of dowry. And most families spend years, sometimes decades, waiting for justice that [music] may never come.

[00:02:37]So, if you think that system protects us, think again. [music] Because recently two minor girls died by suicide after allegedly being [music] gang-raped and blackmailed. They filed complaints.

[00:02:49]Their families begged for help. Videos existed, but no strong action was taken [music] in time. Because this country only remembers women during elections.

[00:03:01]Suddenly, everybody wants to talk about women's safety. The politicians wants to give speeches. Campaigns are run, hashtags trend, but when [music] a woman actually calls for help, there is complete silence. In 2024 alone, more than 4.4 lakh crimes against [music] women were registered in India. That's like 50 cases >> [music] >> every single hour. A rape every 18 minute. And [music] 13 cases every hour of a husband and in-laws abusing women.

[00:03:37]And these are just the reported numbers, because most women are still [music] taught to normalize violence. Gussa ho jata hai, par dil ka bura nahi hai.

[00:03:47]Thoda adjust kar lo beta, sab sahi ho jayega. No. Violence is violence.

[00:03:52]>> [music] >> Fear is not love, and silence is not our culture. I am angry because every time a woman speaks [music] up, she's called dramatic. And every time she stays silent, she [music] just becomes another statistic. This country doesn't just fail women after violence. It also trains women to survive it quietly.

[00:04:14][music] And honestly, that should scare every single one of us. And maybe the saddest part is that this [music] is not new.

[00:04:23]Year after generation after generation, from my mother to her mother to my grandmother and to my great-grandmother.

[00:04:30]Everyone has tried their own way to deal with it. Some have stayed silent, some have spoken up, and some have adjusted.

[00:04:37]But the ending never really changed.

[00:04:40]Different women, but the same [music] fear exists. And honestly, this is not how I want to die. And not how I want any other woman to die, either.

[00:04:50]>> [music] >> Not as another headline, not as another case, not while the system stays [music] silent. And I think it's finally time that women stop fighting this battle alone. Because silent hasn't saved us.

[00:05:05]>> [music] >> Adjustment hasn't saved us. Waiting hasn't saved us, either. So maybe it's time that we stand together and demand change. That, too, loudly. Because enough is enough. For more such stories, follow the CSR Journal.