LAWS GOVERNING RAPE According to the Indian Penal Code, a man is said to have committed ‘rape’ when he has had sexual intercourse with a woman under these conditions: Against her will With her consent when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in, in fear of death or hurt. With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married. With her consent, when at the time of giving such a consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication on the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature of the consequences of that of which she gives consent. With or without her consent, when she is under 16 years of age.
Where rape is proved, the minimum punishment is ten years for custodial rape, gang rape, rape of pregnant women and minor girls under the age of 12 and seven years in other cases. Top THE MATHURA CASE Sadly, in practice the odds are still stacked against the victim. Mathura, a 16-year-old tribal girl, had the misfortune to experience this at firsthand. On March 26, 1972, she was raped by two policemen in the compound of Desai Gang police chow ky in Chandra pur district of Maharashtra. Her relatives, who had come to register a complaint, were patiently waiting outside even as this heinous act was being perpetrated in the police station. When her relatives and the crowd threatened to burn the police chow ky down, the two guilty policemen, Ganpat and Tukaram, reluctantly agreed to file a.
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The case came up for hearing in the sessions court on June 1, 1974. But the judgement pronounced turned out to be in favour of the accused. Mathura was accused of being a ‘liar’. It was stated that since she was ‘habituated to sexual intercourse,’ her consent was given. Under the circumstances, only sexual intercourse could be proved not rape. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court set aside the judgement of the sessions court and sentenced Ganpat and Tukaram to 5 years and 1 year of rigorous imprisonment respectively.
The judgement was that passive submission due to fear induced by serious threats could not be construed as willing sexual intercourse. However, the Supreme Court again acquitted the policemen. The judgement said that Mathura had not raised an alarm and there were no visible marks of injury on her body. The judgement did not distinguish between consent and forcible submission. To pOTHER UNJUST JUDGEMENTS The Mathura case stirred the conscience of the whole nation. But it wasn’t the only case of its kind.
Sakina, a poor 16-year-old girl from Kerala, had been lured to Ernakulam with the promise of finding a job. There, she was sold and forced into prostitution. For 18 months, she was held in captivity and raped by clients. A complaint by a neighbour led to her rescue. Aided by her parents and an advocate, Sakina filed suit in the High Court, naming the upper echelons of Kerala’s bureaucracy and society. The High Court quashed the case, observing ‘It is improbable to believe that a man who desired to have sex on payment would come to a reluctant woman.’ The judgement added, ‘The version of a woman of this disposition is not so sacrosanct as to be taken for granted.’ This despite knowing that the girl had been beaten and held against her will.
