LAWS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS IN INDIA DISHA GUPTA BASICS OF LAW Tue, Jul 02, 2019, at ,11:56 AM Violence against women in India refers to physical or sexual brutality committed against them, typically by a man. Common forms of violence against women in India includes domestic abuse, sexual assault including rape, marital rape, assault with intent to outrage modesty, human trafficking, forced prostitution, acid throwing, and perpetuation. The statistics for these crimes is increasing rapidly as the assailants are moving around freely, some because of being unreported and the others due to lacunae of law. Thousands of crimes remain unreported which results in a lack of justice and continuous assaults over time. The concerted efforts of the courts, the legislature, the Law Commission of India, non-governmental organizations and women’s activists have led to important steps forward in the delivery of justice to the victims of sexual assault. Certain amendments and insertions in our legal system are as follows- The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1983- The infamous Mathura case called for significant amendments in the Criminal Procedure Code in 1983, particularly regarding what constituted custodial rape (Custodial rape is rape perpetrated by a person employed by the state in a supervisory or custodial position, such as a police officer, public servant or jail or hospital employee. It includes the rape of children in institutional care such as orphanages.). This provision dealt with enhanced punishment under Section 376(2) and the presumption of absence of consent. This was done by bringing in an amendment in the Indian Evidence Act Section 114(A) IEA. Thus, in cases of custodial rape, rape of a pregnant woman, and gang rape, if it is proved that the accused had sexual intercourse with the woman who is alleged to have been raped, and the question is whether it was without the consent of the woman, and she states before the court that she did not consent, the court shall presume that she did not consent. Supreme Court judgment in 2000- Before the case of State of Karnataka vs. Manjanna in 2000, doctors would examine victims of rape only after they received a request from the police. For this to happen, the victim had to muster the courage to register a complaint against the accused in a police station of the correct jurisdiction. But, after this judgment, the Supreme Court recognized that the rape victim’s need for a medical examination constituted a "medico-legal emergency". Second, it was also the right of the victim of rape to approach medical services first before legally registering a complaint in a police station. As a result of this landmark judgment, the doctor or hospital is now required to examine a victim of rape if she reports to the hospital directly, and voluntarily, without a police requisition. The judgment recognizes the three ways by which a hospital may receive a victim of rape: voluntary reporting by the victim; reporting on requisition by the police, and reporting on requisition by the Court. Unfortunately, this information has not been disseminated to all doctors, and the majority of them still insist on a police requisition before examining a rape victim. Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013- Popularly, known as the Anti-rape Act. This amendment came after Nirbhaya rape case and it amends the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), 1973, the Indian Evidence Act (IEA), 1872 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, (POCSO), 2012. The changes made were as follows- Insertion of the seventh clause in Section 100 of the Indian Penal Code i.e. (when the right of private defense of the body extends to causing to death) wherein act of throwing or administering acid which may reasonably cause the apprehension that grievous hurt will otherwise be the consequence of such act. Insertion of 166A and B in the Indian Penal Code whereby public servant knowingly disobeys or fails to record information as prescribed by provisions of Cr.P.C shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both. Insertion of sections 326A and 326B in the Indian Penal Code to make acid attack a specific offense. Punishment enhanced under sections 354 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, making the offense more stringent. Section 354 contains ‘Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty’ and section 509 contains ‘Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.’ Sections 375, 376, 376A and 376B substituted by replacing the existing sections 375,376, 376A, 376B, 376C and 376D of the Indian Penal Code, and replacing the word 'rape' wherever it occurs by the words 'sexual assault', to make the offense of sexual assault gender neutral and also widening the scope of the offense of sexual assault. Indian Evidence Act, 1872 amended by way of inserting a new Section 53A wherein evidence of the character of the victim or of his or her previous sexual experience shall not be relevant or questioned. Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018- This was passed in furtherance of the barbaric Kathua rape case. The Ordinance amended the IPC, 1860, POCSO Act, 2012 and other laws related to the rape of women. The key features of the bill were as follows- Section 376(1) of IPC, 1860 was amended to increase the minimum punishment for rape of women from seven years to ten years. Section 376 AB has been added to IPC by this amendment. This includes Punishment for the rape of a woman less than twelve years of age as a minimum twenty years rigorous imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for life. The offender in such cases can also be punished with the death penalty. (Thus, for the first time, the death penalty has been introduced for the offense of rape considering the gravity of the offense.) Section 376(3) has been added by the amendment which includes Punishment for the rape of a woman less than sixteen years of age as a minimum twenty years rigorous imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for life. The Cr.PC, 1973 has also observed many amendments in cases of rape. These are that if a person is accused of rape on a woman of under sixteen years of age, he shall not be granted anticipatory bail under Section 438 by a High Court or a Court of Session. The amendment has provided for speedy trial and investigation. The investigation has to be mandatorily completed within two months. The appeal in rape cases has to be disposed within six months. Thus, these amendments have brought significant changes in the criminal law of the country. These amendments have the objective of making anti-rape laws more severe so as to decrease the rate of crime. The time frame of investigation and appeal, if implemented properly, can bring down the crime rate. However, these amendments need to be supplemented with other changes in the criminal justice system for overall effective results. But can the law alone put a bar on the increasing statistics of crime against women in India? Can these amendments alone help in reducing crime or providing justice to the suffered ones?