A Sociological Analysis of the Jyoti

Singh Sexual Assault Case

Sociology 241: Juvenile Delinquency

Brian Ghilliotti

11/25/2017
 On the night of December 16th, 2012, Jyoti Singh, 23, and her male friend, Awindra

Pratap Pandey, 28 (1), were looking for a ride home after watching the movie Life of Pi in an

upscale neighborhood of South Delhi (2). At the time, Jyoti Singh was going to school to

become a physiotherapist and attended college in Dehradun to pursue this goal. Her family

financed these educational expenses by selling part of her ancestral land. Jyoti covered her

living expenses by finding a job in a call center. (1)

Jyoti met her friend Awindra Pratap Pandey through a friend at her call center job.

Pandey was an information technology specialist, coming from a much higher Indian social

caste than Jyoti. Therefore formal marriage would be very dicult for the couple. (1) In India,

the social caste system, which is a social stratification system justifies a present quality of life

on the deeds of supposedly past lives. Eorts have been made to dismantle this system, but

political leaders have kept it alive by building constituencies based on caste identity. (3)

They finally found a bus by 9:30 at night, occupied by six individuals. Two of these

individuals, Ram and Mukesh Singh, were residents of the Ravi Das Colony of Delhi, which was

a vast community (some would call it a slum) of poor Indians who migrated to the City of Delhi

for jobs and better incomes. That was the case of Ram and Mukesh Singhs parents, who

migrated to Delhi in 1997 when they saw no future remaining in the countryside as landless

laborers. Since they felt that life really didnt improve much in New Delhi, they decided to move

back in the countryside while Ram and Mukesh Singh stayed in the city (1).

The Singh brothers were known amongst their neighbors for their drunkenness, petty

crimes, and occasional violent behavior. These patterns were more likely to happen when the

two brothers were together. Mukesh Singh was the younger of the two brothers, and he was

described by neighbors as fine on his own but dierent when he was with his brother.

The older brother, Ram Singh, was a bus driver by living. He was married to a divorced

women who later passed away from cancer. After her death, he developed a drinking problem,

which lead to violent behavior. To make his problems worse, he got into an accident with a lorry

while driving his bus, which permanently damaged his arm.

 Previously that day Ram Singh had returned home visiting relatives. He was greeted by

Raju, a 17 year old drifter who worked with him as an assistant on his bus. He wanted to know

if Ram Singh was able to pay back some money that he had borrowed from him, and decided

to stay in the residence of the Singh brothers once he realized that the money was not ready.

Ram Singh also permitted another homeless person to stay at his residence, 28 year old

Akshay Thakur, who was also an assistant that supported Ram Singhs bus operations.

The seventeen year old, whose identity had been protected at the time oft he crime due

to juvenile oender laws, was only known to the Indian press as Raju. He came from the

same countryside province as Singh brothers, Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is once of Indias

most poverty stricken and populous provinces (1).

In Uttar Pradesh, rape against women is common, and women face the constant a

threat of sexual harassment. Gang rape is frequent, and in numerous cases rape victims are

forced to marry their assailants. Police rarely register complaints, let alone investigate. This is

probably the result of police resource limitations and poor social attitudes toward women in

that region of India. Many women chose to kill themselves rather than face the stigma of being

dishonored," and ocial responses to rape usually try to blame the victim by suggesting that

they provoked it (1).

Raju was sent to Delhi to find work at the age of 11, where he barely made a living

serving in the food industry of another rural migrant slum called Trilokpuri. Raju was sent to

New Delhi to find work and help his parents make money, but after a while they stopped

receiving money from him and lost track of him. Meanwhile, Ram Singh met Raju at the eating

establishment he worked at, where he oered Raju a job as a bus cleaner.

Rajus co-worker, Akshay Thakur, also came from a rural village in India. He left his

home at Patna, the state capital of Bihar province, east of Uttar Pradesh. He was looking for

work elsewhere and spent five years doing poorly paid, heavy labor jobs such as working in

kilns, before making his way into Delhi (1).

 The Sing brothers, Raju, and Akshay Thakur had spent the time before the rape

partying with each other for about three hours. By 8:00 at night they received a message

from the owner of the bus he drove for a living requesting that they pick up a cylinder of

cooking gas. Ram Singh then turned to his party of friends and said , Lets go out and have

some fun," before heading o on their errand (1).

While the party left to start the bus, they called on others to join them. Pawan Gupta,

who was a 19 year old student who made his living selling fruits, heeded their call. Gupta was

also form Uttar Pradesh, and gave up his education by helping his parents run their fruit stall.

He hoped to return to school, but realized this was not going to happen after falling in with the

wrong sort," as he later confessed.

Gupta was also joined by Vinay Sharma, 20, who was the son of an airport cleaner. He

worked part time in a gym as a cleaner and instructor. This gym was frequented by New Delhis

elite, who resided a few miles away, and he earned 5000 rupees a month from this position. All

of his earnings were given to his parents. He had little time for school, but was trying to better

himself by taking an on-line course in communications (1).

Mukesh Singh was driving the bus. As the group drove through Delhi, he stopped at a

designated bus stop. Raju then yelled to anyone at the bus stop if they were going to Nehru

Place, a shopping center and oce complex a few miles away. They kept up this pattern for

about ten minutes at other bus stops when a carpenter on his way home finally responded to

their calls. It was by now dark.

By 8:30, after they failed to lure additional passengers on their bus, the bus headed to a

suburb called Munrika. All the while, the group sat on the bus posing as passengers. Raju had

been stationed at the front, calling in passengers (1). At that point the group assaulted the

carpenter, 35 year old Ram Adhar, and stole 1500 rupees in cash and his cell phone. They then

dumped his body at a section of road known in Delhi as the IIT Flyover. Not content with their

previous catch," the rouge bus crew sought other victims. Meanwhile, Ram Adhar reported

the incident to three constables who were on patrol. They responded that the incident was not
part of their jurisdiction, and that he would have to report the incident to Vasant Vihar police

station, not them (2).

Part of the national outrage that followed this incident was based on the fact that it

could have been prevented if the three local constables who received Ram Adhars complaint

had reacted more seriously and initiated alerts for the presence of this pirate bus to law

enforcement units in the city. By December 21, 2012, the Delhi High Court reprimanded the

Delhi Police for being evasive when investigating a status report providing details of the bus

robbery incident that was reported to the three constables on patrol.

The following day, the Delhi Police initiated action against the three constables for

failing to take action by putting out an alert for the bus that would later be used to carry out the

rape. By December 24, 2012, two Assistant Commissioners of Police were also suspended for

failing to prevent the rape (4).

By the time Ram Adhar was trying to alert the police, the rouge bus was approaching

the Munrika neighborhood. Jyoti Singh and her friend Awindra Pratap Pandey had just

convinced an auto rickshaw driver to take them to a bus stop at Munrika, where they had to

look for other options to get home. It was at this point that the two friends were approached by

the rouge bus. They sat down in the bus thinking that the rest of the occupants were

passengers.

As the bus drove o, Ran Singh approached Pandey and asked him what he was doing

with a female at that time of night. Pandey replied that it was none of their business, and soon

there was a confrontation. While the bus was driving through heavy trac, Jyoti Singh banged

on the buss curtained window while Pandey was quickly subdued by the passenger assailants

with an iron bar. His clothes were then stepped as he lost consciousness.

The bus continued moving, and once Pandey was subdued, Jyoti was dragged to the

back of the bus and raped. This review will not go into the details of the rape, other than to

mention that Ram Singh initiated it and that Jyoti was penetrated with the same iron bar that
was used to knock Pandey unconscious. At some point Ram Singh exchanged places with

Mukesh Singh, giving him a chance to commit the sexual assault (2).

Pandey regained some consciousness and overheard the group discussing what should

be done with the victims. He overheard that they thought they were both dead, so he

continued to play dead. The group decided to simply throw them out of the bus. By 9:45 at

night the bus was seen on CCTV in the Mahipalpur neighborhood of Delhi, where they decided

to dump their semi-conscious victims.

After the bus got rid of its victims, an eort was made to run them over, but Padney was

able to muster himself and pull Jyoti out of the way. There must have been some trac nearby,

as no future eort was made to pursue their victims. The rouge bus crew simply chose to make

their getaway by getting lost in city trac.

They then returned to Ravi Das Colony, made a thorough attempt to wash the bus of

any blood, feces, and other evidence found on the bus, and burned the victims clothes. Then

they tried to divide the money and other aects they stole from their victims, but this was not

done without arguments, which the residents of the slum overheard (2).

Meanwhile, the couple lay in a state of semi-conscious for about forty minutes before

someone alerted a local constable, despite the fact that there were passerby. They were finally

taken into medical care. The extent of Jyotis injuries included damage to her genitals, uterus,

and intestines. She was in critical condition. Pandey was able to recover.

Despite the rouge bus crews eorts to clean up the evidence, the Delhi police were

able to find the bloody bar that was used to assault both her and Pandey after they were able

to trace and identify the bus. Police used a combination of testimony from Pandey and Jyoti

and CCTV footage (2). The assailants were quickly arrested.

Protests in Delhi were already developing as soon as December 18th, 2012. Political

leaders were immediately calling for the death penalty. These protests escalated by December

20th, when student groups from Jawaharlal University, Delhi University, and Jamia Milia

organized demonstrations against crimes against women. During these demonstrations

Pandey gave a statement of grief for his friend. By December 23rd, the protests were

becoming violent, with clashes between protestors and police. One police ocer suered

serious injuries during the riots, who would later die. Jyotis health remained critical, and

demonstrators were demanding a quick trial for the oenders.

In response, a three-member Committee was appointed to recommend amendments to

Indias Criminal Law so as to provide a quicker trial with enhanced punishment for those

involved in sexual crimes against women (5).

Jyoti passed away from internal injuries by December 29th, which inspired more

peaceful rallies in cities throughout India to keep pressure on the Indian government to push

tougher measures against those who commit crimes against women. Five days prior, to of the

assailants had admitted their guilt and stated that they deserved capital punishment (5).

A speedy trial was granted by January 3rd, 2013. Five of the assailants were tried as

adults, while the sixth, Raju, was selected for trial under a juvenile court on account of his age.

On March 11, 2013, Ram Singh was found dead in his jail cell. Ten days later, India approved

tougher anti rape laws to punish sex crimes, which included capital punishment for repeat

oenders (5).

By September 13, 2013, the local court system awarded the four remaining adult

oenders the death sentence for their crimes. The case was passed onto the Delhi High Court,

which upheld the death penalty on March 13th, 2013. However, once the case was passed to

the Supreme Court of India, the death sentence was stayed by July 14, 2014 (5).

Finally, and May 5th, 2017, the Indian Supreme Court decided to uphold the death

sentence for the four remaining adults (5). Critics of the Indian Supreme Court maintained that

public outrage in rape cases seems selective, and that were are numerous cases female

sexual assaults that received scant attention in India. In light of this, they argued that upholding

the death sentence in this case is problematic, especially in light of the murder rape cases that

have gone unnoticed in the Indian public, particularly where the victim is on the margins of

Indian society (6).

 What made the Joyti rape case more outrageous than the rape cases of other women

who live on the margins on Indian society, they asked? These critics often pointed to another

gang rape case involving a group of Hindu men assaulting a Muslim woman during sectarian

riots in the western Indian State of Gujarat in 2002. This case was finally resolved when the

Mumbai High Court upheld the convictions of the Hindu assailants, but it took fifteen years to

process, especially since there was no general public outrage associated with it. Tougher laws

against rape as a consequence of the Jyoti Singh case may be a positive thing, but it remains

to be seen if these laws will be uniformly and consistently applied (6).

Another controversial aspect of this case is the trial status of Raju," who was the

youngest of her assaulters. Raju was classified as a juvenile by Indias Juvenile Justice

Board, and under current laws governing the processing of juvenile oenders in India, he could

only be held in a special home for a year, until the age of 18, before he had to be released.

This situation angered many in India, which helped inspire clashes at many Universities in New

Delhi and beyond (7).

The Indian Government responded to public pressure on December 2015 by allowing

youthful oenders between the ages of 16-18 to be tried as adults if they commit serious

oenses such as rape and murder (8). Though this may be seen as a positive development, it

also has its risks. In any case, this change could have huge implications on Indian society.

According to one study, around 41% of Indias youth is below the age of 20 (9), and most of

this group likely consists of youth who are 18 and below.

It is quite possible that this statistic could grow, as it is common for families in societies

with extreme poverty to produce as many children as they can to help promote individual

survival. In the larger picture, however, this promotes even greater poverty throughout society.

Like all adjustments to the law, there are good and bad consequences. This

amendment expands the amount of Indias population that is subject to capital punishment by

41%, and with that change comes opportunities for those who might want to abuse these

changes related to youthful oender laws. These people could range from wealthy plaintis
who have a personal vendetta against another family, or it cold include lawyers who may want

to specialize in supporting these types of capital punishment cases.

The Joyti rape case also exposed a dark side of Indian society, which are poor social

attitudes toward gender issues throughout India, which often leads to sexual assault. It is so

common that it is considered a hobby by some of the males who carry out this behavior, which

is known eves-teasing (10). The roots of these poor social attitudes towards women

stems from cultural standards that emphasize masculinity over feminism, especially in the rural

areas. Also, a resource deprived education system in the rural areas of India does little to help,

which could be utilized to promote greater sensitivity toward gender issues.

The psychological impetus behind most rape behavior is to gain a sense of power and

control that the assailant enjoys over their victim. Given the extreme poverty and frustration

that many of the marginalized populations face in India, a pandemic of rape against women

may serve as a way of feeling of power and control in a situation where they feel powerless

(11). This is counter productive, as it helps contribute to a multitude of public safety, legal,

social, and mental health issues that are destructive toward sustaining the family as the

fundamental structure of youth development.

When reviewing the youths who were Ram Singhs accomplices, many of them came

from marginalized backgrounds with impoverished families who could do little to help them

achieve their life goals. In the cases of Akshay Thakur and Raju," there did not seem to be

any supporting family structure at all. We get the impression that Ram Singh was intentionally

seeking youths o this type in order to from a gang and the sense of control that comes with

becoming a gang leader.

According to the text, one explanation for gang formation is the result of lower class,

marginalized youths seeking a form of status. This option would seem appealing to youths

facing real or perceived marginalization factors that may include sectarian, racial,

psychological, and economic issues. Many of these youths have dysfunctional or destitute

families who can do little to support them with their status oriented goals. Other conventional
institutions for socialization, such as schools, are weak or unavailable. So these youths join

gangs to help achieve the social status and goals they seek (12). This appeared to be the case

with the youth that Ram Singh was attracting. We get the feeling that Ram Singh was possibly

using his rape bus as a mechanism to encourage his youthful accomplishes to perform a

gang initiation crime in an eort to mold them into a gang.

It is good that the Joyti Singh rape case helped bring awareness and initiate justice to

the poor state of gender aairs in India. We must now complete this justice process by looking

at the social decay factors that encouraged her assailants to make the poor decisions they

made. Justice does not come about by institutionalized retribution, for institutionalized

retribution does not want to look at both sides of the process objectively and evenly. It only

leaves unaddressed the social decay factors that led to the outrageous crimes in the first

place.

 Sources

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fury-over-new-delhi-gang-rape-sparks-protest-across-india-idUSBRE8BK0R620121221

Barry, Ellen. In Rare Move, Death Sentence in Delhi Gang Rape Case Is Upheld.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/10/delhi-gang-rape-india-women

FP Sta. Latest Census data shows youth surge: Nearly 41% of India's population is below

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amends-juvenile-oender-law-in-response-to-delhi-rape-case-1450796440

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case-1450796440

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India

Siegel, Larry J. & Welsh, Brandon C. Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, & Law.

Cengage Learning, Stamford, CT. Page 129. 12th Edition. 2012.

Unknown author. Delhi gang rape: What happened on December 16, 2012 and status of

the case. news18.com. December 8, 2014.

Unknown author. What is Indias caste system? BBC News. July 20, 2017.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616

Unknown author. 2012 Delhi gang rape. Wikipedia. Last updated: November 23, 2017.

Last View: November 23, 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Delhi_gang_rape#Incident

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 Notes

(1) Burke, Jason. Delhi rape: how India's other half lives. The Guardian. September 6, 2013.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/10/delhi-gang-rape-india-women

(2) Unknown author. 2012 Delhi gang rape. Wikipedia. Last updated: November 23, 2017.

Last View: November 23, 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Delhi_gang_rape#Incident

(3) Unknown author. What is Indias caste system? BBC News. July 20, 2017.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616

(4) Unknown author. Complete Latest Story - Delhi Gang Rape - Actual Incident of Damini

Nirbhaya. Speaking Trendz. Undated.

http://ftrendz.blogspot.com/2013/01/complete-latest-story-delhi-gang-rape.html

(5) Unknown author. Delhi gang rape: What happened on December 16, 2012 and status of

the case. news18.com. December 8, 2014.

http://www.news18.com/news/india/delhi-gangrape-what-happened-on-

december-16-2012-and-status-of-the-case-730141.html

(6) Barry, Ellen. In Rare Move, Death Sentence in Delhi Gang Rape Case Is Upheld.

New York Times, May 5, 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/world/asia/death-sentence-delhi-gang-rape.html
(7) Siegel, Larry J. & Welsh, Brandon C. Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, & Law.

Cengage Learning, Stamford, CT. Page 129. 12th Edition. 2012.

(8) Mandaha, Niharika & Roy, Rajesh. India Amends Juvenile Oender In Response to Delhi

Rape Case. The Wall Street Journal. December 22, 2015. https://www.wsj.com/

articles/india-amends-juvenile-oender-law-in-response-to-delhi-rape-

case-1450796440

(9) FP Sta. Latest Census data shows youth surge: Nearly 41% of India's population is below

the age of 20. First Post. January 13, 2016. https://www.wsj.com/articles/india-

amends-juvenile-oender-law-in-response-to-delhi-rape-case-1450796440

(10) Banerji, Annie. Public fury over New Delhi gang-rape sparks protest across India.

Reuters. December 21, 2012. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-protests/public-

fury-over-new-delhi-gang-rape-sparks-protest-across-india-idUSBRE8BK0R620121221

(11) Sharma, Ananya. Why is eve-teasing so common in India? Quora question response.

October, 19, 2016. https://www.quora.com/Why-is-eve-teasing-so-common-in-

India

(12) Siegel, Larry J. & Welsh, Brandon C. Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, & Law.

Cengage Learning, Stamford, CT. Page 129. 12th Edition. 2012. Pages 344-345.