In the northeast states, and Jammu and Kashmir there is a pattern of rape of women by the army and paramilitary forces for perceived support for armed insurgents. Rape and ill-treatment of women by the police is widespread throughout the country.

Redress for the victims or their families is almost impossible to obtain; most of them have neither the information nor the resources required to seek it. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, in force in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, states where armed opposition groups are active, grants the security forces immunity from prosecution for "anything done or purported to be done" under the Act. The police are protected from prosecution by the Code of Criminal Procedure for acts committed while on official duty. The government amended the Code of Criminal Procedure in September 1991 to strengthen that protection in states under President's Rule — direct rule from New Delhi.

It is impossible to gauge the true extent of torture in Jammu and Kashmir. In July 1991 unofficial sources estimated that 15,000 people were being detained without trial in the state. Many of those detained since late 1989 have alleged after release that they were tortured or ill-treated in custody. In November 1991 Dr Kazi Massrat, the chief casualty officer at the Medical College Hospital, Srinagar, told a British journalist: "I must have treated 250 torture victims in the last year". He said they included men who had been forced to drink large quantities of fluid after having their penises tied tightly. Earlier, in June 1990, recently released villagers from the community of Haihama-Payerpora, Kupwara District, told another British journalist how they had been tortured while detained by the Indian army. When interviewed they still bore massive bruises, burns from electrodes and heated rods, cuts and rope sores. "One man, whose feet were bandaged up to the ankles, said a bed of coal had been covered with corrugated iron and a deep layer of sand, which slowed their progress when the prisoners were forced to run across it...". All had been released without charge after soldiers reportedly threatened to detain and torture them again if they should support the armed opposition.

This report shows that many Indians have struggled against great odds to expose torture and to demand accountability. The Indian Government, while refusing access to international organizations and failing to respond seriously to the international human rights procedures of the UN, has claimed that its legal system, free press and civil liberties organizations are adequate to address human rights violations. Sadly this is demonstratively not the case. In an era where it is widely recognized that human rights are an international concern, those struggling for human rights in India need the active support of the international community.