As 2012 draws to a close, it will be remembered for several things: the Coalgate scam, Arvind Kejriwal's crusade against corruption, Narendra Modi's victory in Gujarat – and the vicious assault on a young paramedic on the streets of India's capital. What should not be forgotten, in the indignation over the brutal bus rape, is the spate of assaults on women across rural and semi-urban India. Women were beaten, executed, fined, evicted from their homes, banned from using mobile phones and otherwise punished for “social” offences ranging from adultery to “immodest” attire.

In the month of December alone, a woman in West Bengal was beheaded for alleged adultery; another in Bihar was beaten to death on the orders of the village panchayat for having an affair; women were banned from using mobile phones by a panchayat in Kishenganj in Bihar and girl students in Bhiwani were fined for wearing jeans.

Similar incidents took place throughout the year: a panchayat in Baghpat, UP, banning women from love marriages, using mobile phones and visiting markets unaccompanied, a father beheading his daughter for “immoral” behaviour, a women stripped and beaten for helping a couple to elope, another stripped and her head shaved for adultery, girl students in Bareilly and Ranchi ordered to follow a no-jeans dress code, a woman and her alleged lover bound and beaten.

All these incidents call to mind the “honour killings” sanctioned by the Haryana and UP khap panchayats, which were largely related to inter-caste marriages. But the sheer spread of such assaults in terms of caste and community make it clear that they have less to do with preserving caste hierarchies and more to do with policing women.

Although a form of extreme hostility against women, these cases do not fall into precisely the same category as violence against women in the form of rape or wife-beating, or deviant behaviour like a father sexually abusing his minor daughter. The perpetrator in these cases is not an individual; in most cases, it is the power cartel of the village, often in collusion with the victim's family. In each case, the victim is targeted for breaking social codes – marrying without the consent of parents, adultery, wearing western attire, having a love affair.

On the one hand, there is repression. On the other, the face of rural India is changing. Pants for girls are no longer taboo in villages, beauty parlours offer hairstyling and eyebrow-shaping in small towns and even villages, mobile phones are used by one and all, girls can be seen jetting around on rural roads on bicycles and scooters. Most of all, many young girls display a strong desire to become economically productive.

Also, women are becoming politically empowered. Reservation in local bodies has given them access to the power structure. Even though many women sarpanches are currently just proxies for their male relatives, a gradual transfer of power is bound to take place, specially with education. Economic and political participation, along with literacy, have improved women's involvement in household decision-making. They are now beginning to have more say in children's education and financial matters.

Sociologists link the growing emancipation of women to the often violent attempts to curb their freedom. The hostility towards women is a response of the male-dominated power structure to female independence, arising from fear that it will destabilise the community and undermine their authority. The Taliban's attack on the teenage Pakistani girl, Malala, who campaigned for women's education, can be seen in this light. Similarly, the Indian Muslim clergy's fatwa against women working as receptionists is intended to prevent their interaction with the outside world.

Men have always tried to control women's reproductive rights by curbing their independence. In Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of women were accused of witchcraft and killed. Most of the women were single and therefore outside traditional male control. For the male head of the household, it is alarming to see women in the family exercising freedom to choose their partners. These fears are disguised as concerns about family or village or community “honour”.

The mobile phone is seen as an instrument of corruption, giving women the freedom to communicate with people outside the family, without the knowledge of fathers, husbands and brothers. This, in turn, can lead to relationships not sanctioned by the family. The Punjab State Commission for Women – a government body – advised newly-married women (in an official circular) not to use mobile phones as that would lead to the break-up of the marriage!

Women wearing traditional male attire – pants or jeans – are also seen as symbols of independence and therefore condemned as immodest. The fact that jeans may cover the body more effectively than traditional female dress is not considered. So deeply entrenched is the idea of female modesty that it is not just panchayats or anti-social elements claiming to be social activists, but educational institutions and administrators who seek to impose a dress code on women. The DM of Bijnore issued an official order saying that girls should not wear jeans or jewellery while attending a function addressed by UP CM Akhilesh Yadav.

The fear-driven desire of men to curb female independence needs to be addressed, both by law and by working within communities to alter the existing power structure so that it accommodates and respects the rights of women.