Panel says Indian government should strictly enforce sex-assault laws

NIRMALA GEORGE 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW DELHI — A government panel recommended India strictly enforce sexual assault laws, commit to holding speedy rape trials and change the antiquated penal code to protect women after a fatal gang rape in New Delhi last month galvanized the public.

The panel received more than 80,000 suggestions for a complete overhaul in the criminal justice system’s treatment of violence against women since the government set it up a month ago to help quell street protests sparked by the rape.

The suggestions included banning a traumatic vaginal exam of rape victims to ending political interference in sex crime cases.

Women say they feel under siege and are so frightened they have structured their entire lives to protect themselves from harassment and attack. Many travel in groups, go out of their homes only during the day and carry sharp objects to stab men who grope them on public buses.

Those who are raped are often blamed by their families for the attack. If they report the crime, the police often refuse to file a report or try to get the victim and attacker to reach a settlement. If it reaches court, the case can drag on for years in the overburdened justice system.

“Failure of good governance is the obvious root cause for the current unsafe environment, eroding the rule of law and not the want of knee-jerk legislation,” said retired Chief Justice J.S. Verma, who headed the three-member panel.

The panel recommended to the government Wednesday that police and other officials who fail to act against crimes against women be punished. It called for a crackdown on dowry payments to enhance women’s status, since families are often forced into massive debt to get their daughters married.

It also suggested the government appoint more judges to lessen the backlog of cases and ensure swift justice, and it called for updating the law to include crimes such as voyeurism and stalking.

“We hope the Parliament will take the legislative suggestions given by the committee,” and translate these into law, Verma said.

Verma advocated strict punishment to prevent sexual harassment and assaults against women and sought reforms in how police treat rape victims.

He called for speedy justice and the setting of a time frame to deal with cases of crimes against women.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office had no immediate comment about what it would do with the recommendations.

More than 100 women’s rights activists, lawyers and ordinary citizens appeared before the commission during a recent hearing to offer suggestions for removing loopholes in the existing laws and scrapping some of its most offensive provisions.

Activists and lawyers have criticized the existing laws on crimes against women as so archaic and riddled with loopholes that they end up further traumatizing victims and allowing perpetrators to get away lightly.

Women’s groups say the most egregious problem is the medical test that a victim has to undergo, which includes a vaginal exam to determine if the woman is sexually active.

In the so-called “two-finger test,” doctors probe the vagina to determine if a hymen is present and to try to determine if the vagina is lax, which is taken as evidence the woman routinely has sex and thus consented to intercourse. Often, the doctor is male.

“The two-finger test, which has been found to be not only unscientific and unnecessary but also subjects the complainant to further trauma and humiliation should be immediately stopped,” said Kirti Singh, of the All India Democratic Woman’s Association.

Indian law only targets three crimes against women, rape, using force to “outrage her modesty,” and making rude sounds or gestures aimed at “insulting the modesty of any woman.”

Lawyers say those laws needs to be updated to include crimes such as sexual harassment, groping, stalking and acid attacks.

“Groping and stalking should be viewed as sexual assault. Stalking is a psychological terror on the victim. It should be specifically defined,” said Mukul Mudgal, a former chief justice of the Delhi High Court.

Rebecca John, a criminal lawyer who spoke with the commission, said the “very lexicon of the law” needs to be changed to remove euphemistic and outdated terms.

“The very definition of crimes against women is faulty. Phrases such as ‘outraging the modesty of a woman,’ and references to her chastity or honour are irrelevant,” John said.

Most of India’s laws, including those on rape, were inherited from the country’s former British colonial rulers and date to 1860. Public pressure after highly publicized rape cases led to amendments in the rape laws in 1983 and 2003. But loopholes remain. The law, for example, does not recognize marital rape for anyone over the age of 15.

Women’s groups have also called for ending political interference in police work that lets accused rapists persuade police to quash their cases by forcing women to reach settlements with their attackers.

“Those having clout are not held accountable even for blatant violations of laws,” said a joint appeal by 10 women’s groups made to the commission.

Human rights groups welcomed the panel’s recommendations to widen the scope of sexual rape to include assaults on homosexual, transgender and transsexual rape.

The commission has also recommended a uniform national protocol for the treatment and medical examination of rape survivors.

“This is something that women’s and rights groups have been asking for for a long time,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director, Human Rights Watch.

Tags: gang rape, gang rape trial, India, rape