Justice Arijit Pasayat, retired Supreme Court judge, had in the case of State
of Karnataka v. Raju (2007) observed that “While a murderer destroys the
physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades and defiles the soul of a
helpless female.” How true! Although the victim lives, her life is destroyed
and she may be unable to lead a normal life due to the physical injuries,
mental trauma and social stigma.
Unfortunately the 23 year old New Delhi girl succumbed to brutal injuries a few
days ago after battling for her life for over 12 days. The media had showered
adjectives like ‘fighter’, ‘spirited’, ‘brave’, ‘courageous’, etc. on her and
christened her ‘Nirbhaya’ (i.e. fearless) to keep her identity a secret, but
she went down fighting, completely unaware of all this. The praise did precious
little to offer any solace or help to her or her grieving family. Plain and
simple, she is a victim of a gruesome crime and died for no reason whatsoever.
LEGAL PROVISIONS AND SYSTEM:
As per the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), maximum punishment for rape is
seven years (ten years for gang rape). But the level of conviction is very low
and the cases drag for a long time during which the victim and her family are
slowly but surely driven to frustration and they lose interest to fight the
case as it constantly reminds them of something they are trying hard to forget.
In many cases rape is either not reported at all or not reported in time and
hence, no medical evidence is available to establish the rape and the culprits
get away scot free or with lighter punishment. The cross examination by lawyers
keeps opening the mental scars and at times, makes the girl and her family
think whether they made a mistake in reporting the rape? So historical facts
and experience suggest the punishment has ceased to be a deterrent for such a
serious crime.
In 2006, the Supreme Court had directed that the definition of ‘rape’ under the
IPC be widened by including other offences against women e.g. eve teasing,
molestation, physical, sexual or mental harassment, etc. and make the
punishment more strict. Despite this, for over six years the ambit of the term
‘rape’ was never reviewed to include other comparatively less serious – but
more rampant – offences against women, even in the light of changes in social
behaviour over the last few decades. Finally, on December 23, 2012 the
Government constituted a Committee headed by Justice J. S. Verma, former Chief
Justice of India, to review and examine the laws to protect the safety and
dignity of women. Yet another instance of the Government doing too little, too
late.
SOCIAL SYSTEM:
Shockingly, in India the social stigma associated with being raped is so
deeply entrenched that many instances of rapes are never reported. This stigma
manifests itself in many forms like complete neglect / boycott of the victim
and her family by neighbours/ relatives and even blaming the victim for the
incident. There are instances of the victim’s family disowning her due to
social pressure or because they too held her responsible for the rape!
Of late, there are many regressive views expressed suggesting that the victims
are also partly responsible for it. Sample this... “Such dresses are a
provocation to men and an invitation to trouble.” OR “She shouldn’t be staying
out late alone / with friends.” Utter rubbish! Why are all questions asked to
the females and none to the males? It is shocking that some of these statements
were recently made by senior IPS officers, when asked how crimes against women
can be curbed! No female deserves or asks to be raped or sexually assaulted.
Rape or sexual assault is a pre-meditated act of abuse of power and can have no
excuse whatsoever and doesn’t deserve any mercy. If a good looking man walks on
the street wearing only half the clothes he usually wears, what is the
probability that a woman or a group of women would take him to a remote
location and rape him?
WHY?: PSYCHOLOGY OF A RAPIST:
One wonders what goes on in a man’s mind that makes him commit such a ghastly
crime, because no man of sound mind would ever think of that. Does he not know
that his pleasure is against the woman’s will, at the cost of her dignity, is
short lived and that if caught, he faces a trial and punishment? Is there no
fear of the law or he thinks he won’t be caught? Doesn’t he realise his life
and career can be finished? Is there absolutely no element of guilt? Is there
no fear of the disgrace his family will face when it all surfaces?
So it follows that there is something seriously wrong in the rapist’s mind –
either deep rooted or momentary – for him to ignore all possible consequences
of his actions. Either he has a disturbed mindset or he is under influence of
alcohol, drugs or even unbridled power. Another mindset is of dominance or
misplaced aggression which manifests in the use of brute force, violence,
coercion or deceit over another person to get what he wants. Some unhappy past
history involving wife, girl friend, mother or a close female relative may also
lead to a man to resort to rape as an outlet for his anger, with or without
provocation. Whatever the reason, unless a man is a certified lunatic, he
possesses the ability to differentiate between the right and the wrong and by
committing a rape or sexual assault, he willingly makes the choice of the wrong
and does not deserve any mercy.
PUBLIC SENTIMENTS AND OUTCRY:
Over the last fortnight, the nation witnessed unprecedented outrage and
protests following the gruesome gang rape. Many news channels had women’s
rights activists, intellectuals, former cops, eminent citizens and of course,
politicians debating on causes of such crimes and measures to curb them. While
the politicians indulged in the usual mudslinging on opponents, rhetoric and
promises, the other participants were forthright and vocal in expressing their
views. There are loud and clear calls for amendment to laws to cover other
crimes against women, quicker trials, fair processes, stringent punishment,
etc.
The public is equally critical of the Government for waking up only after the
massive public outrage following the New Delhi gang rape. People seem to ask
why does the Government always drag its feet on critical social issues and act
only after the damage is done? Where do the Government’s priorities lie? Why
can’t it show the same speed in amendment of laws relating to crimes against
women like what they showed in matters of increasing salaries of MPs, FDI in
retail, insurance, etc? Is it only a women's problem? Are male MPs not man
enough to pass such laws?
WAY FORWARD:
Experts and intellectuals feel that while laws must be amended, social reforms
and transformation is the only long lasting solution for the malaise of crimes
against women. True, but being a perfect solution, it will take a long time and
more lives could be lost or destroyed while in its pursuit. So the need of the
hour is two-fold (i) to instill a fear of breaking the law in people’s minds by
convincing them that the punishment will be INEVITABLE and SEVERE; and (ii)
offering comfort and solace to victims and their families by making the legal
process more humane. Some suggestions:
(i) Make such serious offences non-bailable, whether
during the investigation stage, during the trial or in the course of an appeal
by the accused challenging a lower court’s order.
(ii) Rather than making the victim visit the police
station to lodge an FIR, a female police officer should record her statement at
her house in the presence of her parents and a female social worker. Don’t we
call a doctor for a home visit when the patient is unable to visit the clinic?
(iii) Have day-to-day hearings in fast track courts,
complete the trials within 60 days and hold judges responsible for failure to
ensure that. The hearings should be held ‘in-camera’ i.e. no one but the victim
and her family, the accused, lawyers, witnesses, judge and court staff should
be present.
(iv) Judges should rein in lawyers who ask uncomfortable
questions to the victim. It should be enough to prove whether the crime was
committed by the accused or not, minute details should be redundant.
(v) The punishment should be made certain and severe.
The law should provide for castration of the rapist and his accomplices without
any exception, in addition to rigorous imprisonment. We can adopt the
sophisticated option of ‘chemical castration’ which is equally effective.
Capital punishment should be imposed in case of death of the victim. For once,
human rights activists can be completely ignored.
(vi) If the victim is alive, the castrated rapist should
live to tell his sorry tale. The ‘name and shame’ approach suggested by some
will ensure that people known to the rapist and his family will know about the
crime committed by him, the punishment meted out and his consequent lifelong
‘inabilities’.
CONCLUSION:
Any point is best conveyed with the help of an example. So the best way of
driving home the point is to ensure a quick trial and a quicker punishment in
the case of Nirbhaya and clearance of backlog of other long pending cases. The
task is daunting, but so is the menace of crime against women. Desperate
situations need desperate measures to be taken without fear or favour. If the
Government manages to accomplish this within a couple of months, there cannot
be a better gift on Women's Day on March 8, 2013.
