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LAW & COURTS Trial courts generally take years to conclude proceedings in rape cases. These can be wrapped up in a few months in fast-track courts. The Supreme Court has made it clear that even under existing laws, trial courts are bound to hold day-to-day hearings and complete the trial within two months. Legal provisions have to be deterrent. The recent gangrape and murder of a physiotherapy student in Delhi has stirred the collective conscience of the people and brought them together to demand deterrent laws that provide for stiffer punishment and fast-track courts to exclusively hold day-to-day trial in such cases to render quick justice to the victims by handing out adequate punishment to the accused, including death penalty and chemical castration.
Changes
sought to make it work for women MEDICAL CARE Honour
the brave young man policing Not
enough women in khaki SOCIETY
LAW
& COURTS
The recent gangrape and murder of a physiotherapy student in Delhi has stirred the collective conscience of the people and brought them together to demand deterrent laws that provide for stiffer punishment and fast-track courts to exclusively hold day-to-day trial in such cases to render quick justice to the victims by handing out adequate punishment to the accused, including death penalty and chemical castration. This has resulted in a nation-wide debate on the changes required in the existing laws and the trial procedure in order to effectively deal with cases involving crime against women and send out a strong message to potential offenders that there is no way they can go scot-free after committing the heinous offence. In order to effectively contribute to the debate, The Tribune thought it necessary to explain to its readers the existing laws, the changes that are necessary and under way and their merits and demerits; and help put in place an effective legal and judicial mechanism that would go a long way in enabling women to enjoy their fundamental right to lead a life of dignity and making the nation a safer place. What constitutes rape? Sections 375 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, define rape as sexual intercourse against a woman’s will, without her consent, after obtaining consent through threat, after deceitful marriage, with consent obtained after sedation, and with or without consent of a girl under 16 years of age. For proving rape, the duration of intercourse is immaterial; just proving penetration is sufficient. Punishment Minimum: Seven years in jail. If the court awards a sentence for less than seven years, it has to specify the reason (s) in the judgment. Maximum: 10 years to life imprisonment Marital rape: Term may extend to two years Gangrape According to Section 376(2)(g), IPC, when a woman is raped by one or more persons in a group, she will be deemed to have been gangraped. All the members of the group will face gangrape charges irrespective of the fact that some of them were merely present along with the rapists. Punishment Minimum: Rigorous imprisonment for 10 years. If the court awards sentence for less than 10 years, the reasons have to be specified in the judgment. Maximum: Life sentence Rape by officials This would mean a police officer committing rape within the police station; police officer raping a woman in his custody or of his subordinate; staff committing rape on inmate of jail, remand home, hospital or other such institutions. Other forms Committing rape on a woman knowing her to be pregnant; raping a woman under 12 years Punishment Minimum: RI for 10 years Maximum: Life term The trial In rape cases, police files the chargesheet in the Sessions Courts after completion of the investigation. The Sessions Court has the power to reject the chargesheet if it feels prima facie no offence is made out on the basis of the statements of witnesses recorded by the police and other supporting documents like medical reports. On the other hand, if the court decides to take cognizance of the chargesheet, it orders the supply of all documents to the accused and directs the accused to file his or their response to the charges. After giving opportunities to both the prosecution and the accused to argue in the court, the trial court decides either to drop the case or ask whether the accused would plead guilty or innocence. If the accused pleads guilty, the quantum of punishment would be pronounced without framing charges or holding trial. If the accused pleads innocence, the court would frame specific charges and begin the trial. The trial court can add further charges in addition to those mentioned in the chargesheet or drop some of them. During the trial, the rape victim’s statement is given significant weightage as the Supreme Court has time and again held there is no reason to disbelieve the victim as normally she would not wrongly implicate innocent persons at the cost of her honour. However, the accused could assail the victim’s version by citing credible reasons and producing evidence. The prosecution would lead its own evidence during the trial, while the accused is given the opportunity to cross-examine the prosecution witnesses. The accused is also given an opportunity to lead evidence but in most cases he does not lead evidence. The accused is free to challenge in the High Court the decision of the trial court to frame charges against him. Earlier, the High Courts used to summon the original records from the trial courts if they decided to hear the plea of the accused and this resulted in halting the trial proceedings in the absence of records. Realising that this causes delays in concluding the trial, the High Courts no longer call for trial court records while entertaining the plea of the accused. Victim’s character Earlier, trial courts were reluctant to convict the accused in cases where the rape victims’ character was under a shadow. But this is no longer the position as the Supreme Court has ruled the victim’s vices could not be used as a licence to violate her modesty. Rape-cum-murder In cases similar to the rape of the 23-year-old medical student in a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, the victims’ statements or dying declarations are treated as a crucial piece of standalone evidence for convicting and sentencing the accused. Deadline for concluding trial At present, trial courts normally take years to conclude the proceedings in rape cases and deliver judgments, either acquitting or convicting the accused. Trial is concluded expeditiously, sometimes within a few months, only if the accused is tried in fast-track courts. There is a general feeling even among lawyers that there is no deadline for the trial courts to dispense justice in such cases. However, the Supreme Court has, in a recent judgment, clarified that even under the existing laws the trial courts are bound to hold day-to-day hearings in rape cases and complete the trial within two months. Under Section 309 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), "the inquiry or trial (in rape cases) shall, as far as possible, be completed within a period of two months from the date of commencement of the examination of witnesses," an apex court Bench pointed out last month, citing some of its earlier verdicts. Further, once the trial commences "the proceedings shall be held as expeditiously as possible" and particularly after the examination of witnesses begins "the same shall be continued from day to day until all the witnesses in attendance have been examined". Existing legal provisions clearly mandate that trial courts can adjourn the hearing in such cases only under unavoidable circumstances and that too after recording the reasons in each order. Also, "when the witnesses are in attendance, no adjournment or postponement shall be granted, without examining them, except for special reasons to be recorded in writing". The Supreme Court also made it clear that trial courts could not blame the poor infrastructure facilities for avoiding the deadline set for completion of trial. What after trial court verdict After the trial court verdict, it is open to both the accused and the police to challenge it first in the High Court and subsequently in the Supreme Court. While the police can challenge the acquittal or lesser punishment, the accused can challenge the conviction and the higher punishment. This process is time consuming as both the High Courts and the apex court have heavy workload. Judicial vacancies, mounting arrears The 21 High Courts in the country have a sanctioned strength of 895 judges whereas there are only 613 judges, with one-third of the posts lying vacant. As many as 43 lakh cases are pending in these courts, translating into over 7,000 cases for each judge. Similarly, more than 65,500 cases are pending in the Supreme Court (as on December 1, 2012) and there are only 27 judges against a sanctioned strength of 31. This works out to about 2,500 cases per judge. The situation is worse in the lower judiciary where more than 30 million cases are pending. Both the Supreme Court and the Law Commission of India have recommended a nearly five-fold increase in the judge-population ratio – from the present 10 to 14 judges per million to 50 judges per million.
Changes sought to make it work for women In the wake of the Delhi gangrape and murder, the government has set up a committee headed by retired Chief Justice of India JS Verma to review the existing laws and suggest amendments in order to make the legal provisions a deterrent against such crimes against women. Suggestions Even as the Justice Verma committee has begun its work in order to submit its recommendations within a month, a number of legal experts, social activists and other concerned citizens have suggested many changes to sternly deal with crime against women.
Controversial Bill Recently, the government
introduced the Criminal Law Amendment Bill in the Lok Opposition members raising the
issue outside Parliament in New Delhi.
MEDICAL CARE
"They
did not let me urinate, wash my face or
have water. I was made to stand in full public view for three hours before
anyone in the hospital attended to me. When a doctor came, he asked me to go to
another ward. I felt shamed and broken. It was like my trauma had only
begun..."
This testimony of a 20-year-old from a suburb of the National Capital tells the little known story of re-victimisation which survivors of sexual assault experience in healthcare settings day in and day out. Denied respect by doctors, the victims tell stories of fear, pain and exclusion which begins, quite ironically, from a place where healing should have begun. But the health sector invariably fails the survivors of sexual assault, with doctors known to bear against them the same biases and insensitivity as the society. "They (the medics) give preference to other patients over rape victims in the emergency ward… for them, we are just another police case," says another young rape survivor who had gone to the hospital on her own to seek treatment after the assault, but was firmly denied that until there was an FIR. Go to the ‘thana’ and have a requisition for medical examination sent, she was told. Most doctors attending to survivors of sexual assault clearly do not know their law. Section 39 of the Criminal Procedure Code says that a survivor of sexual assault can come to the hospital simply for treatment of the effects and the doctor is not bound to inform the police. He has to record the informed refusal of the victim if the latter does not want to intimate the crime to the police. Moreover, even in the conduct of medical examinations, the doctor must seek the victim’s informed consent, explaining to her the processes involved. Neither the court nor the police can force the survivor of rape to undergo a medical examination without her consent, according to the CrPC. But most doctors violate the law every day, assuming that a woman who comes to them for treatment of sexual assault must first approach the police. No uniform code Much of the violation of rape victims’ right to health and dignity stems from the lack of uniform national protocols for medico-legal role of doctors in this. The government hasn’t cared to create a trained cadre of doctors and nurses to deal with the special needs of rape survivors, even though the world is replete with best practices such as the rape crisis centres in the West, which had in the late 1970s developed the first Sexual Assault Nursing Examiner (SANE) Programme to improve the response to sexual assault. The US funds this initiative under its Violence against Women Act, 1994. In India, we don’t even have a protocol of what to ask a victim and how to record her history when she arrives at the hospital, often her first point of contact after the violent act. "We have been demanding national protocols for seeking victims’ consent, history, conducting examination and collecting evidence in a way that it aids the victims’ testimony in court. The government is even free to adopt the WHO protocol on the issue, which has been around since 2000. It’s a matter of will," says Padma Deosthali, Coordinator, Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), which was the first one to start a direct intervention with the health system in matters of treatment of sexual assault victims in India as late as in 2008. CEHAT established a hospital-based crisis counselling centre called "Dilasa" at a peripheral hospital in Greater Mumbai and trained the doctors to deal with domestic violence victims. The cadre that emerged volunteered to develop a similar healthcare response for rape survivors. Today, two Mumbai hospitals are using the CEHAT protocol (the first one in India) to address physical, psychological and medico legal needs of sexual assault survivors. But that’s not intervention enough, considering most doctors in India lack the training to deal with sexual assault victims. Medical textbooks are outdated and encourage doctors to view rape victims with suspicion. They caution doctors to seek victims’ consent before conducting a medical examination, stating that if such consent is not sought the doctor would himself face the charge of rape. In the process, healthcare providers invariably of see rape victims as subjects in a police matter and treat them with little care, even admitting that they mostly avoid seeking history of the case. A survivor recalls, "The doctor told me there would be an examination and I said it was fine. He did not tell me what it would be like. He then inserted two fingers into my vagina and took notes on a paper… it was extremely painful. I wanted to run away." The examination of rape victims in India continues to be replete with the degrading procedure of the "two-finger test", where a doctor inserts his fingers into the vaginal opening to determine its flexibility. "Such a test has no bearing on the case. We have been seeking its prohibition. All it tells you is whether a woman is sexually active but the law says that does not matter," Aruna Kashyap of Human Rights Watch points out. She has documented the practice of the test in India. Psychological support Another problem is most healthcare providers in cases of sexual assault perceive their role to be largely medico-legal rather than therapeutic. "There is no component of psychological support to survivors at all. Doctors see them as police cases where they are only required to give gynaecological opinion. The entire process of referrals in the hospital is coordinated by the police. Shadowing of the survivor by the police stigmatises her further and makes her unnecessarily conspicuous," says the 2011 study CEHAT and Sama Resource Group for Women and Health conducted in Mumbai and New Delhi to assess the response of healthcare providers to rape victims. There is also mounting evidence to show doctors seeing rape victims give them little therapeutic care for injuries, possible sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy, and instead concentrate on the presence or absence of injuries, denying the victims the right to health. The stereotype of sexual assault invariably resulting in injuries determines how doctors interpret the findings. The presence or absence of injuries (along with the laxity of the hymen) is often looked upon as the deciding factor to ascertain whether sexual assault has occurred or not, experts say. However, these interpretations have no room in the Indian Evidence Act, which says past sexual history of a woman is irrelevant to rape. But doctors continue to record old injuries, give testimonies in court on how the two-finger test is very painful and how a woman who does not feel pain is habituated to sex. The defence then uses medical opinion to question the victim’s character and challenge the charge of lack of consent to the act to thwart her case, considering the IPC definition of rape equals non-consensual sexual encounter. Evidence Act To spare rape victims this trauma, activists are now calling for further amendment of the Evidence Act to explicitly prohibit finger test which is unscientific because hymenal orifice can be flexible for reasons other than sex. The calls are important considering repeated court judgments that rely on such obsolete medical evidence to acquit the accused. The Jharkhand HC in one acquittal based on positive finger test results said, "Though the girl was aged 20 to 23 years and was unmarried but she was found to be habituated to sex and hence of a doubtful character." While the existing procedures are enough to deter victims from reporting rape, there are other findings to show how none of the swabs of victims who report are being dried up by doctors prior to packaging thus jeopardizing crucial medical evidence. Researchers Sana Contractor and Deepa Venkatachalam recently found that the chain of custody, expected to ensure proper preservation of medico-legal examination in rape cases, was severely undermined. "After the evidence is dispatched with the police, it is kept in the store house (maalkhana) for days and not immediately dispatched to the forensic science lab. Reports of chemical analysis are never returned to the hospital for the doctors to provide a final opinion; so when the doctor goes to court as an expert witness he is unable to corroborate chemical analysis results with the history of the victim. This defeats the case," indicated the research. Dr Pradeep Goud, Head, Forensic Medicine, Kasturba Gandhi Medical College, Manipal, also makes a revealing statement when he says that the police often brought clothes of victims and accused in plastic bags, which were prone to fun gus. "Clothes have to be stored in paper bags. But that’s not done and crucial medical evidence is mostly lost. Also, swabs are being dried in the sun whereas they must be dried in shade to preserve their evidentiary value," he says. In case victims come straight to the hospital without registering an FIR, there are no protocols to say how medical evidence will be collected and passed on for storage to the police. But more than anything else, the victims of sexual assault complain about lack of sensitivity to their suffering in hospital surroundings. They say they feel threatened to narrate their case history in the hostile healthcare settings with the police often present in the investigation room during the evidence collection process. The least a rape victim deserves is privacy but evidence shows she gets little of that.
As
details emerge about the exemplary courage shown by the
23-year-old woman in fighting her predators and her inspirational,
though tragically brief, life, we also need to appreciate the brave
young man who was also on the bus, and stood his ground and tried to
save his friend. When one speaks of honouring her, indeed we must also
start a campaign to honour him. There would be few more deserving than
him of the nation’s highest awards because men like him, who are
willing to risk their lives for others, despite the gravest injuries,
are few and far between. While the poor girl died of her grievous
wounds, this young man lives on, but no doubt with both body and soul
battered and bruised.
Yes, he is the sort of person we wish we saw more of in India: someone who is willing to fight for the dignity of women, and is interested in justice being done. We must remember that he determinedly remained on the bus and tried to protect his friend, despite the ghastly attacks by the gang of six brutal men who were assaulting both of them with an iron rod. After being stripped by them, he was also thrown out of the bus along with the woman and left to die. It was he who pulled her to one side when the rapists threatened to run them over, and possibly saved her life, if only for a few days more. Later, despite his injuries, it was he who picked her up and placed her in the PCR van. Subsequently, he remained resolute, despite his agony and ensured the police managed to note down all evidence. It was his description of the bus that helped nab the culprits and he even went to the police station to identify the rapists. Though he must have been in terrible pain, he completed a very difficult and complicated task, and has truly emerged a real hero in this macabre episode. Knowing how badly equipped police stations are, possibly the conditions under which he had to work at helping the police might have been tough, but till recently we had not heard his voice, at all. It is only now that he has spoken up, and then too only to express his agony over the police and public apathy he had to face. He has also revealed to us the cynical behavior of the politicians, including the fact that his friend had been shipped to Singapore when it was far too late. One only wishes that while the government appeared to be pulling out all stops to give medical assistance to the rape victim and money to her family, they had given some care and assistance to the young man too. After such a horrible ordeal, he requires a lot of physical and mental support. It is shocking to learn that he has been completely neglected, and is even paying for his treatment. One wonders if he will ever return to Delhi. In his effort to deliver justice for his friend, he has certainly sacrificed his security. It is not too late, and his bravery should be recognised at the national level. It would only be fair if the government made sure he was specially hired in a secure job, within a safe environment, as it might be difficult for him to return to his previous employment. People’s characters are usually revealed in times of crisis. And this brave, as yet nameless, young man has remained the epitome of courage. It would be justified if, at some stage, we learnt more about him. His admirable composure and dedication to his friend, despite the nightmare and torture he faced, were quite apparent in a recent TV interview. It is precisely men like him who can become role models for future generations. He seems to be just the kind of sensitised young man the nation needs. Side by side, shouldn’t we make the effort to remember and honour other young men who have made similar sacrifices in the past, at times at the cost of their lives? For instance, Keenen Santos and Reuben Fernandos, who tried to save their friends from being teased on the streets of Mumbai… Sadly, they were killed by a bunch of goons. They deserve the highest national recognition too. Every young man in these high-profile cases who has stood up and fought for the freedom of women should be remembered in a special roll of honour, perhaps on Republic Day, as apart from the tragic dimensions of rape and the bestial young men who are roaming our streets without fear. We must celebrate those young men who are struggling to give women an equal status. It is indeed time to launch another movement for the liberation of Indian women and shake up a stultifying patriarchy. It will only be possible if both women and men join in and build a better future together. For that reason alone, I salute this wonderful young man who tried to help his friend during and after that fateful bus ride. Even now, he has undertaken a huge risk by giving such a frank interview, which will upset the authorities but is a scathing indictment of both police and public behaviour. Just listening to him speak of his heartbreaking experiences is worth much more than even a thousand suggestions sent to Justice Verma. One can only wish the police does not overreact once more. They have already done enough harm with their clumsy and insensitive handling of the entire episode, as has the ruling elite. Instead of trying to cover up our mistakes, let us use this young man’s experiences for improving our system. And for God’s sake, let us all give this young man the help, support and admiration he deserves. May he and all others like him be given all the respect and honour due to them! I do hope someone is listening out there!
policing
Ensuring
protection for women against sexual
offences and enforcing various rules, and guidelines for women is a job mandated
to the police, which is short in numbers and is woefully untrained to handle
such sensitive matters. The constabulary and the thana-level police personnel
— the inspectors and their juniors — are living in their cocoon of
caste-ridden politics clouded by draconian mindsets. At times, they display no
concern or priority for crimes against women.
Enforcement of various rules, laws and guidelines enacted for women in general and women at the workplace in particular, are followed more in the breach as almost no checks exist. Once a rape is committed, ensuring the dignity of the victim and seeking conviction of the rapists on the basis of sound investigation, is the mandate of the police. At times, pressure from the powerful plays a role in holding back the police. A glaring example is of Bitti Mohanty, son of former DGP of Orissa. He was convicted of raping a German woman. Bitti was jailed for eight months before jumping parole in 2006. There is still no trace of him. Leave aside the metros or big urban centres where the police functions under intense media glare and some level of accountability, a woman in India dreads approaching a police station, which is at best a caricature to describe the dictionary meaning of the word 'hostile'. Approaching the police could also lead to a fresh round of humiliation as the 17-year-old Patiala gangrape victim discovered and committed suicide on December 26. "Instead of treating us as victims, my family was treated as accused. The policemen threatened us to strike a compromise with the accused or face consequences," the victim's relatives said following her death. Uniformed policemen used to visit the girl's house at odd hours and ask her uncomfortable questions. The Punjab Government suspended them but it is how the police treats rape victims. Mirror to bad investigations The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says in 2011, 24,206 rapes were reported and only 26.6 per cent convictions were meted out. A total of 42,968 molestations and 8,570 cases of sexual harassment were reported. These are just the reported cases. Thousands of cases of rape, molestation and sexual abuse at workplace go unreported due to family pressure or sheer shame of approaching the police. In several hundreds of cases, the police does not lodge an FIR. Since the data for 2012 is being compiled, 2011 is the closest reference point. At the end of 2011, a total of 1,04,997 rapists were facing trial across the country. During the entire year, only 5,724 persons were convicted and 21,489 got a reprieve from court. In the same year, 2,28,650 women registered cases of sexual offences. A chargesheet seeking prosecution was filed only in 1,78,849 cases and a conviction was obtained in 30,266 cases, making the conviction rate stand at 14 per cent. The Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) states investigation of any case has to be completed in three months, which rarely happens. The Justice VS Malimath Committee on criminal justice system has suggested the investigation and law and order wings of the police need to be separated as the Station House Officer hardly has time to probe cases. The police is woefully short of numbers, equipment and vehicles. As per the NCRB, in 2011, the countrywide ratio of police was 137 for every lakh of population. The worst states being Uttar Pradesh with 94 policemen per lakh, Bihar with 65 per lakh and West Bengal 92 per lakh. The density of police personnel calculated for every 100 sq km is even more abysmal at 52.4 police personnel for every 100 sq km. Major states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are much below the national average. The police also suffers from lack of transport facilities. The country's police forces have only 1,48,908 vehicles like Jeeps, motorcycles and lorries. This figure includes 9,196 cars used primarily by SSPs and above. Investigations suffer due to lack of scientific data. Forensic science is a subject which is still not within the grasp of the thana-level policeman who deals with day-to-day crime. Apart from the big cities, at the district level there is no forensic team that could go to the spot to collect evidence for DNA sampling, etc. Investigation and the criminal justice system rest on three things: the investigating agency, which is the police; the prosecution; and the judiciary. The goal of punishing the guilty remains elusive. The grind of investigations by the police can be painful for the rape victim. The police depends on other wings of the administration to complete investigation and seek a successful conviction. In cases of rape, medical evidence is critical and the doctor's report vital. In the courts, all crimes, including sex crimes, are taken up for trial in a chronological order. Till last year, the Centre was funding fast-track courts and now there is demand for more such courts following the Delhi gangrape. Existing laws being changed At present, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, covers a wide spectrum of crimes. It is inadequate with three sections of law. Section 375 defines the offence of rape, Section 354 the crime of outraging the modesty of a woman and Section 509 the act of insulting the modesty of a woman. Section 376 covers punishment for rape. On January 4 this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs invited the Chief Secretaries and DGPs of all states for their opinion on the revision of anti-rape laws. Suggestions have come to create a separate chapter in the IPC under the head "Sex Crimes". This will factor in various aspects of rape, including those committed by juveniles. In the Delhi gangrape, the boy who claims he is a minor was the most barbaric. Police probe has revealed he raped the girl even when she fell unconscious. He was the one who used an iron rod to damage her intestines leading to her death. Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath says the minor should not be spared as "it is a very heinous crime and he should also face death penalty". At the conference of Chief
Secretaries and DGPs, the top brass of the police and the administrative
officialdom wanted the entire gamut of sex crimes to be listed and defined.
Eve-teasing, molestation, attempt to rape and rape should be defined and a
graded punishment be prescribed under the IPC. Circumstances of the crime should
be factored in, including rapes at gunpoint, knifepoint, coercion, blackmail,
caste rivalry and communal angles. There was near-unanimity that the age for
being considered a juvenile be lowered from the existing 18 years to 16.
Gender sensitisation This is needed across the board in the legislature, executive, judiciary and also the media without restricting it to the police alone. In February 2011, Noida SP Anant Dev not only revealed the name of a 17-year-old gangrape victim, but also held a press conference and blamed the girl for having "willingly" gone with the accused and consuming alcohol. The victim said she was forced to consume liquor and then raped. For that moment, Anant Dev forgot Section 228-A, IPC, which bars anyone from revealing, publishing or printing the name of the victim. It is under the same Section that the Delhi Police booked a news channel on January 4 for airing an interview with the male friend of the woman who was gangraped in Delhi. Nothing seems to move In November 2012, the Supreme Court set about executing a mechanism for the implementation of Vishaka guidelines of 1997, which require employers at a workplace as well as other responsible persons or institutions to observe them and ensure prevention of sexual harassment to women. After reading the affidavits filed by the states and union territories, the court stated: "The states and union territories which have not yet carried out adequate and appropriate amendments in their respective Civil Services Conduct Rules shall do so within two months". The final decision on amending the laws will be arrived when the Justice JS Verma Committee submits its report. The committee was set up on December 23 and given 30 days' time. The Usha Mehra Commission has been set up to probe any lapses on part of the police in handling the gangrape case.
Eight years after the SOP was issued, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde issued directions on January 3, 2013, saying two women Sub-Inspector level officials would be stationed at each police station in Delhi. He approved the recruitment of 2,508 women, including 418 Sub-Inspectors. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Delhi has 948 women Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors and Assistant Sub-Inspectors while the national Capital has 180 police stations.
Some of the large states faring badly are Bihar with just 1,232 women police personnel, Andhra Pradesh (1,848), Uttar Pradesh (2,354), Karnataka (2,739) and Arunachal Pradesh (410). In the North, Himachal Pradesh has 599 women police personnel, Uttarakhand (1,291), Punjab (2,508), Haryana (2,563) and J&K (1,015). Mizoram and the union territory of Daman and Diu do not even have a single woman on their police forces across 50 police stations and three police stations, respectively. Union Home Secretary RK Singh says, "If there is women police, women complainants will feel more secure and comfortable in visiting a police station. We think 33 per cent civil police -- constables and sub-inspectors should comprise women." Handling of rapes cases needs utmost care in case the victim has grievous bodily injuries or burn injuries. A Sub-Divisional Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate, preferably a woman, is called in to record the victims' statement which could very well be the 'dying declaration', hence the need to record it in secrecy. Policemen often interfere at this stage. In the latest gangrape case of the 23-year-old Delhi paramedic, SDM Usha Chaturvedi lodged a written complaint against the police. Chaturvedi was recoding the victim's statement. This led to a war of words between Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar. A senior serving IAS officer recalled his days as SDM, saying once he had to ask the policemen to leave the hospital room when the 'dying declaration' of the victim was being recorded. When taking the dying declaration into account, the courts always ask who all were present and if the SDM or the Magistrate recorded the statement.
SOCIETY
Society needs to effectively arrest the basic trend of violence against women — in whichever form manifested — demand for dowry, domestic violence, sexual harassment or rape, which is the result of women’s powerlessness in a male-dominated society. "Before closing her eyes she said, ‘sorry, I caused you so much trouble’ and held her mother’s hands and mine," says the father of the victim who was gangraped in Delhi on the night of December 16.
In the first book of her six-part popular autobiography, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," poet-writer Maya Angelou describes the trauma of an eight-year-old raped by her stepfather. She has to be hospitalised for physical injuries when her mother discovers she’s running high fever and is unable to stand. The dazed girl finds herself surrounded by family and friends whose attitude towards her changes overnight, from giving reprimands to that of sympathy and compassion. Though she carries a feeling of guilt towards her mother — feeling responsible for a kind of betrayal — her mother puts her fears to rest.
This is not fiction. The book is a courageous portrayal of the post-trauma attitude towards life, wherein various socio-cultural values of the girl’s environment come into play. To speak up is a beginning of sorts, what we wish to see after the unfortunate gangrape incident in Delhi. Packers and movers of female body Compare this to a well-known Hindi novel that deals with the same theme, portraying the life of Ratti, a mature working woman whose spirit is tortured by demons from her childhood sexual abuse. Krishna Sobti’s "Surajmukhi Andhere Ke", as the title itself suggests, focuses on a rape victim’s trauma and its long-drawn aftermath. What stands in the way of Ratti’s fulfilment in life is her fate shaped by a cruel incident, a cruel society that would not let her forget, and her parents’ inability to help her heal. The long tentacles of patriarchy keep her psychologically engaged in the violation of her being.
Our socio-cultural realm still
resonates with the same old hangover that renders a woman ‘useless’ for a
man, clan and society, after her chastity has been violated. These overtones
shape our attitudes towards a crime like rape, mingling it with shades of sex
and patriarchy. This is why rape victims are made to commit suicide in fiction
and in reality (the girl from Patiala recently), even though they are victims of In an act of violence, one is hurt and sustains injuries. In rape, a whole lot of politics gets involved. Going back to the epic Ramayana, the victim Sita has committed the blunder of making a choice, by choosing Rama over Ravana. Ravana believes he is justified in his right to abduct the woman who denies him the right to possess her. His male prerogative is threatened by the privilege of another man, but the woman is victimised. It requires greater deal of effort to understand how Ravanas continue to be nurtured into 10-headed monsters by our socio-political structure. And women have to deal with not just one, but six to a dozen such monsters at a time. This horror grows beyond the grasp of poets and writers to pen epics.
Not long ago, Doordarshan used to broadcast an advertisement to educate pregnant women about the need to consume iodine in their diet. A coy woman used to come on screen glorifying self-sacrificing Indian womanhood, "Mera kya hai main to namak se hi roti kha lungi," she would proclaim. The connotations were that since she has to give birth, she should eat well. This is reflective of how over centuries of acceptance of their secondary position in home and society, women continue to look at themselves apologetically, even in terms of nourishment. Most Indian women eat after feeding the family. They are made to believe in this virtue because men and sons need better nourishment. This self-degradation continues, when they fast for sons and husbands alone in the name of tradition. At the birth of a girl attitudes differ; the poor lament; those who can afford go in for sex determination tests. Foeticide is not fiction. India has had a long history of female infanticide — of girls suffocated, poisoned to death, drowned or simply left to die. About half-a-million female foetuses are estimated to be aborted each year, as per a 2006 study by British medical journal "Lancet". The rich fly overseas to ensure they beget sons. A girl is a burden and subconsciously she receives this information, which is reinforced at every step of her life, making her undermine her worth. Families where daughters are welcome are few and social norms are shaped by how the majority behaves. Boys will be boys It’s a norm in small towns that boys, howsoever limited family resources may be, are sent to an English-medium school. Girls are sent to government schools, if at all. Eve-teasing begins as early as middle school. Innumerable girls drop out of school due to this menace, but so far no proper study has been conducted to collect data to improve their lot. The families, burdened with more girls, marry them off soon. The way education should have empowered women, has not happened. It has prepared some women to join a profession, earn money, but it has not brought about much change in their social status. The extent of sexual harassment and gender bias in educational institutions and workplace remains understated and under-reported for lack of a well-structured system. Courts are already burdened with serious crimes like murder and rape and these issues do not receive the seriousness they deserve. All these factors embolden men. Even within the family, a woman’s earning is viewed as supplementary. A parallel influence continues to play a major role in the form of religious outfits, medieval scriptures, babas and ‘deras’ that do not want a social structure based on gender equality. Resistance against gender equality is akin to caste system, scratch the surface and bias is palpable. But unlike the caste and minority groups that are treated as vote banks and hence appeased, political parties are not interested in addressing womenissues. Like Hindi filmmakers who treat film-goers as juveniles, political parties believe Indian women follow their men’s political choices and their huge number does not impact vote politics. Gender sensitisation should begin at school level. Barring some private schools where creative mediums like theatre, arts and sports are used to demystify gender, educators themselves do not feel comfortable about gender equality. Gender disparity is accepted as a fact that women should live with, or, at best, they believe in gender segregation, which only compounds the issue further. Destiny of paraya dhan One-third of the world’s child brides live in India, and they stand 60 per cent higher chances of death in child birth, for they neither have the education on reproductive issues nor can their bodies take the burden of child birth. As per UNICEF, 47 per cent girls in India are married by the time they are 18, though there are laws to allow them to choose when and who they wish to marry. It is a fact, their consent is never asked for. Majority of women just don’t know what it is like to make a choice in the real term of the word. Across the educated-illiterate, rich-poor divide, a girl is supposed to get dowry, a kind of compensation to be paid by her parents for her gender in spite of her education and earning skills. Since 1961, the Dowry Prohibition Act (amended in 1983) is meant to fight this social ill, but the reality is caught in the pressure to fit in, demands of consumerism, inadequate implementation of right to property for women, etc. The government appointed dowry prohibition officers to report violation of the Act to the police, but in a majority of states, not a single case has been reported. Should one believe dowry has been eradicated, like polio? Young women whose parents cannot afford dowry become victims of domestic violence, or are killed. At the same time, a fat dowry does not ensure a partnership based on equality rather it’s an affirmation of a woman’s inferior position in a marriage. The sword of ‘honour’ Against these odds, young girls who dare to choose their life partner are branded shameless and misfit for society. A whole new culture has sprung up in Punjab, Haryana and western UP in the last two decades where girls who chose their life partner have been killed in the name of so-called honour. The horror and cruelty of these deaths were exemplary in sending shock waves down the spine of young women, preventing them from asserting their freedom. They would rather prepare for a life of mute subjugation than undergo such brutality at the hands of their kin. While hundreds of such killings continue subjugating the free will of young women, the entire political class gives it a tacit approval by maintaining silence or by distancing itself from the issue. Chauvinistic and regressive ‘khaps’ continue to run a parallel government, which derides women in every possible manner. Women have learnt never to say ‘no’ to escape an acid attack or rape or abduction. In this unfavourable environment for female gender, no wonder, only 10 per cent women asked for their claim in property. In this hostile world, they think brothers offer the best safety valve and sacrificing their right over property is a price good enough. These factors continue to systematically weaken women’s social position. Birth, development of an eve-teaser The boy in the family knows his sister wasn’t wanted. He gets to know this by the treatment given to her in terms of food, clothing, freedom, education and even dreams. To voice a concern, to question, to speak one’s mind even within the family is not welcomed for a girl, and the same systems dominate in society, at workplaces, public places and institutions that are supposed to offer safety to women. The very systems responsible for weakening a woman’s place have strengthened male psychology that a woman can be subjugated, insulted, groped at, or taken for granted. In many states even today the term ‘eve-teasing’ is used for sexual harassment and there is no particular law to deal with it. From these unpunishable small crimes the confidence of a man grows as at his very first instance of ‘eve-teasing’, no one taught him how to behave in a civilised society. They are neither ostracised nor dealt with strictly. On the contrary, it’s the woman and her family who would be treated like outcastes. One seldom finds sufficient rehabilitation measures within society for a rape victim. Cash compensations are politicised and push an already callous police towards laziness. It is not just the rapist, but in a way the whole community, governance, law and political powers that contribute to pin her down. Why else does one find a two-decade-long hearing of a court case of a gangrape victim in Kerala? While so many of us have deep reservations about having sex education in schools, many of us don’t even bother to help prepare our children to be part of a modern society based on equality and respect. We have allowed institutions to be politicised and politics has given more space to criminals. Rights of criminals
Right from the beginning, the discourse should have been centred on how to achieve the power balance between men and women at every step of the social ladder. Rape is a manifestation of violence that prevails against women because of the notion reinforced that women are powerless. One needs to ask how by hanging a rape accused does a woman become more empowered? If the solutions are sought within the existing patriarchal framework — an eye for an eye — and do not transcend into a new feminist analysis of the issue, this movement too will end up reinforcing the seldom questioned conservative notions of women’s chastity, virginity, servility and the concept of good and bad women, where the crime of rape is subscribed to the traditional notion of ultimate violation of a woman and a state worse than death. If this continues, women will never be able to come out of the feeling of shame attached to their body and its rape, and will never be able to move on like Maya Angelou could.
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Sabha to make rape gender-neutral, under which even women could be
charged with rape. The Bill also seeks to change the basic definition
of rape, making insertion of any part of the body or object into the
mouth, vagina or anus as a criminal offence. Following an uproar, the
government is planning to rework on it.
I
salute this wonderful young man who tried to help his friend during and after
that fateful bus ride. Even now, he has undertaken a huge risk by giving a frank
interview, which will upset the authorities.
Shortage
State
police forces are worse off. Police stations in small towns and villages are
bereft of any presence of women personnel. The latest report of the NCRB
(December 31, 2011) lists the malaise. Across 14,042 police stations countrywide
there are only 88,829 policewomen and only 8,263 women in the rank of Inspector,
Sub-Inspector and Assistant Sub-Inspector. These three ranks usually hold charge
at police stations or are designated investigating officers in serious crimes
and economic offences. The overall strength of the police is 12,81,317 and women
account for about 8 per cent of the force. If the armed women police is
discounted, the numbers drops further.
As
a 16-year-old, Angelou grows up to be a ‘normal’ adolescent and is curious
about the biological changes taking place in her body. Like any other girl her
age, she wants to know if a man would make love to her, and in the true reckless
spirit of a teenager, she throws herself on a boy and does what she wants to do.
Though this misadventure leads to more complications in her life, she treats the
incident of rape as a bad dream and moves on.
Why
only literature, there is hardly any rape victim in Hindi cinema who does not
die or commit suicide. Few exceptions like "Ghar" or "Patita"
were, in fact, glorifications of the hero’s magnanimity, who, unlike Lord Rama,
does not insist on ‘agnipariksha’. The hero ‘accepts’ the victim and she
falls to his feet in gratitude.
For
the mother of a thousand sons