Public grief is cheap. Every time a horrific sexual assault hits the headlines in India, politicians rush to microphones, offering expressions of deep sorrow and solidarity. The Supreme Court of India recently called out this exact performance, stating flatly that expressions of solidarity from public authorities cannot substitute for actual accountability. When a bench led by Justice JB Pardiwala took suo motu cognizance of recent violent crimes across Delhi and the National Capital Region, the message was unmistakable. Words are no longer enough. The system is breaking down because law enforcement agencies treat public safety as an afterthought rather than a non-negotiable duty.
The grim statistics tell an exhausting story. Across the country, over 80 rapes are officially reported every single day. Behind that number lie countless unrecorded violations, fearful victims, and an administrative apparatus that moves at a glacial pace. Consider the disturbing similarities between recent attacks—such as a teenager targeted inside a bus by a driver and conductor—and the haunting ghosts of the 2012 Nirbhaya case. Fourteen years after that watershed moment triggered nationwide outrage, young women are still navigating public transit systems that double as high-risk zones.
The Supreme Court didn't just point fingers at random perpetrators; it flagged a systemic failure of governance. Under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, the right to live with dignity and without fear of violence forms an intrinsic part of the right to life. Yet, public spaces like roads, poorly lit parks, dark metro stations, and unmonitored footbridges remain dangerous hazards. Blaming women for being out late or telling them to be careful is an old, tired deflection. The bench stressed that roads and public transit cannot be allowed to turn into high-risk zones simply because local administrators fail to fix broken streetlights, deploy adequate police patrols, or install functional CCTV networks.
Fixing this requires shifting focus from after-the-fact outrage to preventative institutional responsibility. When an assault occurs, the blame belongs squarely on the systemic failures that allowed predators to operate unchecked. Accountability means penalizing municipal authorities who leave streets pitch black. It means punishing police stations that refuse to file First Information Reports promptly. It means tracking whether subordinate courts actually implement binding guidelines on gender sensitivity, instead of recycling harmful societal biases into trial judgments.
Expressions of concern from leaders will not stop the next assault. Measurable changes in urban infrastructure, strict policing, and swift penalization of negligent officials are the only metrics that matter. Until the state treats women's safety as a fundamental logistics problem to be solved rather than a public relations crisis to be managed, the cycle of outrage and inaction will simply repeat itself.
