July 09, 2020
Some court rulings read more like a bigoted
Some court rulings read more like a bigoted personal viewpoint without any
reference to previous cases or precedence. The accused filed a plea in the
Punjab and Haryana High Court asking to be released during the pendency of their
appeal. Among the many pertinent issues it raised, the report stated that the
criminal laws governing sexual attack must be interpreted from the perspective
of the victim.The Justice Verma Committee report has some pointed remarks on how
and why what happens does in fact happen. This is not to make a case for rampant
smoking, drinking, drug taking or casual sex. It is this kind of thinking that
probably prompted the court to be indulgent and allow the three accused to walk
out during the pendency of their appeal. Take the most recent example of the
student who filed a complaint with the police about rape allied with other
crimes like stalking and blackmail on campus in Haryana. Most of the order reads
like a personal viewpoint, which appears to be out of sync with the current
social environment. The blame is all hers. No, it is about the right to choose
to say no and mean it. A no by a girl is not a yes. He, poor chap, willy-nilly
gave in to her urging and tasted the forbidden fruit. Sometimes the victim is
chosen at random, sometimes she is in a subordinate position, as in the case of
the magazine staffer whose editor tried to force her to submit to his demands in
Goa. If there was a felt need for more laws, there are many recommendations of
expert bodies and judicial decisions that remain unimplemented.Has any thought
been spared for what it took for the victim in this case to register the case?
What she must have dreaded when the accused threatened to send out nude pictures
has now come to pass with this double trauma, of her personal choices being
broadcast everywhere. One wonders how insensitive and out of tune the judicial
system is with current social reality.’The order of the High Court makes no
reference to any previous case or precedent. The reasoning of the judges —
incredibly — was that the studies of the three men would be interrupted due to
the incarceration while their appeal was pending!Before we get to rape, there is
another crime, euphemistically called "eve-teasing", that we should look at
because this is where the problem starts. All four, the female student who filed
the complaint and the three men who violated her personal space, were students
of different disciplines at the Jindal University in Sonepat.In light of that
recommendation, look at the Punjab and Harya-na High Court ruling: they not only
ignored that China
Colorful Bluetooth Audio lamp manufacturer recommendation but also several
sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) regarding the primary question of law
when statements are made about the victim’s personal lifestyle choices (having a
beer, smoking, staying out late with boys, drug taking, etc. The report notes:
‘The failure of good governance is the obvious root cause of the current unsafe
environment eroding the rule of law and not for want of needed legislation. It
is a No! (The author is a Pune-based columnist and a senior freelance
journalist).In today’s India the perception, voiced often enough in the highest
quarters, is of this same Eve who tantalises, titillates and leads on guys with
her clothes, her make-up, her lifestyle choices, her needs — name it, and she’s
to blame — all the while overlooking the fact that it is the man who is the
perpetrator of the crime. "Teasing" makes it seem a light-hearted leg pull, a
kind of a joke between friends or even acquaintances so it is almost harmless.
Rape is the only crime where the victim is blamed. It is when we come to the
first part of the phrase that hackles rise: Eve, after all, tempted Adam to
taste the forbidden fruit. The initial verdict by the Additional District and
Sessions Court upheld the victim’s cry by sentencing two of the three young men
to 20-year prison sentences while the third got seven years.The case that caught
everyone’s attention was the December 2012 rape in Delhi where the victim died
from injuries caused by the gangrape (again it’s the victim’s name that is often
used — one hardly remembers the names of her killers).As if battling value
judgements was not enough, activists, feminists and concerned citizens are
deeply disturbed by recent court verdicts and orders on the interpretation of
"consent" in rape cases.The two-member bench of the High Court did note that
there was attempted blackmail and it needed to be investigated. Sure, those
pictures weren’t sent but barring that everything else has. Instead, the concern
seems to have been that the accused should not be deprived of their education
and be given an "opportunity to redeem themselves and be a part of society as
normal beings" rather than with upholding relevant sections of the IPC
(gangrape, criminal intimidation) or with the section of the Information
Technology Act on the publishing of obscene information in electronic form. All
three walked out.), blackmail, which was inherent in the threat held over the
victim’s head that unless she complied they would send out nude pictures of
her…. The very issues that forced her to submit to the blackmailing by her
assailants have now gone public. So much for the reason the victim submitted to
the trauma of repeated rape and humiliation, all noted in her statements in
court. This led to the setting up of a three-member committee, the Justice Verma
committee, which submitted its report in December 2013
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