For centuries, women have been dominated by men in Indian society. They have consistently
fallen victim to rape, murder, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. And the men involved take excessive pride in it all, committing these heinous crimes to assert their superiority. Women have been forced to bear it all. They have often been made to feel that they were at fault in all of these episodes and that they must have sparked the fire. Their hushed screams are carefully ignored. A society that treats them as equal remains a pipe dream. Meanwhile, the Indian judiciary too has failed to bring them justice in some critical situations.
Two days ago, the Chattisgarh High Court discharged a 37-year-old man from a charge sheet of marital rape, saying that sex with a legally wedded wife is not rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), even if it was by force, against her wish. Such cases are infinite in number and lay bare the bones of a ruthless patriarchy, which even the judiciary lends support to. Section 375 of the IPC considers forced sex a crime only when the wife is below the age of 18. India is one of the 36 countries in the world wherein marital rape is not legally a crime, even though one in every three men admit to have raped their wives in India, according to the RIT Foundation. After getting married, these women have lost the right over their own bodies and can no longer decide for themselves. In July 2019, the Delhi High Court dismissed a petition regarding urging the Centre to declare marital rape as unlawful. Such petitions have been postponed for over five years.
‘Skin to skin contact' is a legal criterion to establish a case of sexual assault against a minor,
under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (pocso) act. In a controversial judgment passed by the Bombay High court on January 19 this year, a man was acquitted after having groped a 12-year-old because he did so while wearing a surgical glove.
In another controversial statement, the former CJI of India, SA Bobde asked a rapist if he would marry the victim. On March 1, while hearing a sexual assault case, he reportedly asserted, “When two people are living as husband and wife, however brutal the husband is, can the act of sexual intercourse between them be called rape?” The Bar Council defended his remarks with a poor interpretation of the laws concerned and incorrect facts related to an alleged incident of sexual assault. On March 4, the Bar Council also criticized “a handful of politicians'' and “so-called social activists” for casting personal attacks against the Supreme Court judges and said that the “malicious media attacks” had to be halted, thus disapproving of those who had chosen to speak up against the injustice that these women faced.
In July last year, the Madhya Pradesh High Court granted bail to a molester on the condition that he will get a rakhi tied on his wrist by the woman he had harassed.
The Indian mainstream media largely ignores these heart-wrenching incidents unless it has enough ideas and content to sensationalize it. When these cases cannot even gather enough sympathy from the media, how can these women hope to seek justice someday?
In most cases, politicians do away with these cases by saying that the girl’s character was faulty and that she shouldn’t have stepped out alone in the dark. Recently, to a 22-year-old medical student, who was gang-raped near Mysore in the evening, Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra said, “It was a deserted place. First of all, they shouldn't have gone there at night. Now people have blamed the police for not patrolling the area.” To that, Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar said that the minister has “taken the word ‘rape’ lightly”.
While criminals would find the loopholes in our law system and flee all punishments, young girls would continue to be afraid of- what not? Going to a movie hall alone? Traveling in a bus? Going to a police station? Or a hospital? Or to school? They will forever remain subject to the authority of fathers and husbands and must obediently follow their orders or suffer indefinitely. This needs to stop- and now. If she continues to be tortured and these tortures are still backed by the law, after years of championing women’s rights campaigns, how far have we truly come?
“There has to be a shift in culture. We have to have conversations about the systems in place That allow sexual violence to flourish.”
- Tarana Burke