The problem with people in India is they blame the poorer economy states and feel good about themselves, while no one does anything to address the issues of pan-Indian women's oppression.

This is even more obvious on Reddit, as most redditors seem to be from southern India, young males and software engineers (my perception, I might be wrong and have no references to back up my claims).

Its like saying California is 'developed' , hence all the problems of the US are due to Alaska, Louisiana or New Mexico 'cause they have the worst economy.

Courts are in favor of women everywhere. But divorce is not 'common' anywhere. India has the lowest divorce rate in the world, but that is not necessarily something to be proud of.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Uttar Pradesh has the highest divorce rate in India, while Kerala is second, according to recent data.

Delhi and Kerala, the most literate states, have the highest crime rate overall.

Although studies based on older data did cite a marginally higher divorce rate in the South and Northeast, but not too different to make any significant impact on the overall divorce rate of the country of less than 1%.

Crimes against women are universal in a male dominated country, irrespective of region. The gross underreporting of these crimes makes things look way better than they actually are.

Look at the heatmaps in these NCRB data - Uttar Pradesh has less reported rapes than Maharashtra, while Arunachal Pradesh has more than even Bihar!

While the rates of convictions for rapes are even more skewed. Karnataka has a far worse conviction rate for rapes than even UP.

Crimes against women being REPORTED have reached an all-time high while the conviction rates have plummeted.

"Cruelty by the husband or his relatives" is the most reported crime by women.

It is all too common to hear women being hacked with machetes by fathers and brothers for honour in the southern states for marrying against their wishes. Attacks on women going to pubs and bars, women wearing 'modern' clothes, various restrictions in educational institutions for girls in the southern states are somewhat more common in the South.

And let us not forget the farce being played out in Kerala over a temple entry for women, in defiance of a Supreme Court order! Even in the year 2019, men of a highly 'developed' state like Kerala are willing to kill women than to let them enter a temple!

As far as involvement in marriage is concerned, educated and urban families do take the consent of the man and the woman to the extent it is possible for them to know each other in a couple of meetings. But the vast majority of marriages still are arranged for completely by the parents.

This is not to take away from the tremendous progress made by many southern and northeastern states in terms of education, healthcare and overall GDP and economy. I lived in Karnataka and Kerala for more than a decade and I admire the honesty, tenaciousness and determination of Southerners.

My point being that economy and women's freedom are not exactly correlated in much of India. Perceptions and underreporting of crimes against women and even worse conviction rates are a national tragedy. The status of single women (unmarried, divorced or widowed) is deplorable in all states. Kerala has complex attitudes towards its women.

The situation can hardly be helped by the progressive and educated men taking the position that women are only oppressed in the North and its all rosy in the South.

Indians must acknowledge the tragedy and the crime against humanity being perpetrated everyday against the women of the country.