Introduction:

Honorable Supreme courts attitude on rape cases was lame in previous years and
changes were taken place from time to time and rapists can no longer hope of getting away by
mediating with the victim or offering to marry her and trial courts and high courts cannot pass
any order facilitating any such reconciliation. In a landmark ruling within days of Madras High
Court's controversial bail to a rape accused to 'mediate' with the survivor, the Supreme Court
took a tough stand slamming the recent trend of subordinate and high courts encouraging
settlement in rape cases saying any such attempt for mediation is "against the dignity of women".
The SC warned that any attempt by a court to initiate reconciliation between a rape accused and
a victim is illegal.

Dignity of a woman is a part of her non-perishable and immortal self and no one
should ever think of painting it in clay. There cannot be a compromise or settlement as it would
be against her honor, which matters the most. Any kind of liberal approach or a thought of
mediation in this regard is thoroughly and completely sans legal permissibility. Stating that any
proposal by the accused to marry the victim was an attempt to put pressure, the court said: “We
say with emphasis that the courts are to remain absolutely away from this subterfuge to adopt a
soft approach to the case, for any kind of liberal approach has to be put in the compartment of
spectacular error. Or to put it differently, it would be in the realm of a sanctuary of error.

A Tamil Nadu judge granted bail to a rapist so that he could meet his victim for a
possible settlement, the Supreme Court has attacked that attitude, describing it as "a spectacular
error" which is "against the dignity of women." In this case, the judge said, the rape survivor,
who became pregnant and delivered a baby daughter as a result of her attack, is "nobody's wife...
an unwed mother", suggesting that her best option would be to reach a settlement with the man
who assaulted her.1

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http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2015/07/supreme-court-rape-mediation-judgement/

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Supreme Court guidelines for rape cases

1) The Complainants of sexual assault cases should be provided with legal representation. It
is important to have someone who is well acquainted with the criminal justice system.
The role of the victim's advocate would not only be to explain to the victim the nature of
the proceedings, to prepare her for the case and to assist her in the police station and in
court but to provide her with guidance as to how she might obtain help to different nature
from other agencies, for example, mind counseling of medical assistance. It is important
to secure continuity of assistance by ensuring that the same person who looked after the
complainant's interests in the police station represent her till the end of the case;

2) Legal assistance will have to be provided at the police station since the victim of sexual
assault might be very well be in a distressed state upon arrival at the police station, the
guidance and support of a lawyer at this stage and whilst she was being questioned would
be of great assistance to her;

3) The police should be under a duty to inform the victim of her right to representation
before any questions were asked of her and that the police report should state that the
victim was so informed;

4) A list of advocates willing to act in these cases should be kept at the police station for
victims who did not have particular lawyer in mind or whose own lawyer was
unavailable;

5) The advocate shall be appointed by the court, upon application by the police at the
earliest convenient moment, but in order to ensure that victims were questioned without
undue delay, advocates would be authorized to act at the police station before leave of the
court was sought or obtained;

6) In rape trials anonymity of the victim must be maintained, as far as necessary.

7) It is necessary, having regard to the Directive Principles contained under 38(1) of the
Constitution of India to set up Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, Rape victims
frequently incur substantial financial loss. Some, for example, are too traumatized to

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 continue in employment.

8) Compensation for victims shall be awarded by the court on conviction of the offender and
by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board whether or not a conviction has taken
place. The Board will take into account pain, suffering and shock as well as loss of
earnings due to pregnancy and the expenses of childbirth if this occurred as a result of the
rape.

The procedures needed to be followed by the victim for registering cases.

a) After the occurrence of crime, the victim should not take bathe and should not change
clothes. Victim should lodge the complaint at the nearby police station as soon as possible
for investigation, arrest, trial and punishment of the perpetrator.

b) Victim or the complainant must file a written complaint and should sign it. If the
complainant is illiterate and gives an oral complaint, the officer in charge should take it
down in writing and read it over to the complainant and get it signed.

c) The victim should undergo a medico legal checkup (M.L.C.) for collection of evidence.

d) Victim should give her clothes to the police for evidence and get them sealed.

ROLE OF POLICE

1) Should intervene in the case with utmost sensitivity.

2) Should register the case as soon as they receive complaint.

3) Should provide legal and medical assistance to the victim.investigating officer should be
a trained lady police officer. 2

2
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/no-compromise-in-rape-case-over-
wedlock-rules-supreme-court/

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 4) Only a lady police officer can talk to the victim and her family in a comfortable and
private place, for the statement and accompany the victim to the hospital for M.L.C., and
during trails.

5) Investigating officer should produce the victim before a magistrate for recording
statement under 164 of Cr.P.C. at the earliest.

6) They should visit the victim's place in plain clothes, and not call the victim to the police
station.

7) Investigating officer should be guided by a senior police officer of the department.

8) If a victim gets pregnant due to the incident and wants to terminate the pregnancy, then it
is the duty of the investigating officer to get medical termination of pregnancy (M.T.P.)
done in a government hospital and should preserve the tissue for further investigation.

ROLE OF MEDIA

1) Should be sensitive while reporting the issue.

2) Should not reveal the identity of the victim including other details, which is related to the
identity of the victim.

3) Should not pressurize any victim and her family members for an interview

ROLE OF JUDGES

1) Should conduct in-camera trails for these cases.

2) Should not be a silent spectator while the victim of the crime is being cross-examined by
the defense.

3) Should have effective control in recording the evidence of the court.

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 4) Should ensure that through cross -examination the victim is not further harassed,
humiliated and traumatized. 3

5) Should handle or deal with such cases with utmost sensitivity and appreciate the evidence
in the totality of the background of the entire case and not in isolation.

6) Court while acquitting the accused on benefit of doubt should be cautious to see that the
doubt should be a reasonable doubt.

7) Judges can order investigation.

ROLE OF DOCTORS

1) Should cater the medical needs of victim with utmost priority.

2) No hospital can deny conducting medical legal checkup (M.L.C.) of victim who has
come to the hospital without police referral.

3) They have to be sensitive in handling these cases.

4) Should record their findings clearly.

SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENTS ON RAPE CASES

3
http://homegrown.co.in/11-landmark-judgments-by-the-indian-supreme-court-in-recent-
times/

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 Om Prakash Vs Dil Bahar

A rape accused could now be convicted on the sole evidence of the victim, even if medical
evidence did not prove rape.

Case Speak: The victim, six months pregnant, was in court because her husband was facing
challan proceedings. The accused was a relative and had come to attend the same. Finding her in
isolation outside the Zilla Parishad, the accused tried to rape her. However, she raised an alarm
and the accused was assaulted by the locals and handed over to the police. Although no evidence
of rape was found, the accused was given a seven-year sentence based on the statement of the
victim and eyewitness accounts.

A statement from the court read, “It is settled law that the victim of sexual assault is not treated
as accomplice and as such, her evidence does not require corroboration from any other evidence
including the evidence of a doctor. In a given case even if the doctor who examined the victim
does not find sign of rape, it is no ground to disbelieve the sole testimony of the prosecutrix. In
normal course a victim of sexual assault does not like to disclose such offence even before her
family members much less before public or before the police. The Indian woman has the
tendency to conceal such offence because it involves her prestige as well as the prestige of her
family. Only in few cases does the victim girl or the family members have the courage to go
before the police station and lodge a case. In the instant case, the suggestion given on behalf of
the defence that the victim has falsely implicated the accused does not appeal to reasoning. There
was no apparent reason for a married woman to falsely implicate the accused after scatting her
own prestige and honour.”

The Nirbhaya Case

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4 out of 5 rape accused received the death sentence and as a result of this case the rape law was
amended to go beyond penile-vaginal intercourse. The new definition penalizes penetration of
any orifice of the woman with any part of the man’s body or with any object.

Case Speak: This hardly requires retelling given the freshness of it in the nation’s collective
consciousness, but here it is anyway. A young girl was returning home with a male friend after
watching a movie. They boarded a bus and soon figured out that something was wrong. The six
people on board, including the driver knocked the boy unconscious with an iron rod and then
raped her one at a time. They shoved an iron rod in her vagina, severely damaging her intestines,
abdomen and genitals. Finally, they threw the boy and the woman out of the bus, and drove
away.

The woman was rushed to the hospital and the men were arrested within 24 hours. Eventually,
the woman succumbed to her injuries, and the men immediately went on trial. While on trial, one
of the accused committed suicide in jail. The remaining five were subsequently charged for rape
and murder. The four adults were granted a death penalty, while the minor was sent to a reform
facility for three years.

Verdict: The case received media coverage like none other. The aftermath was that six new fast
track courts were created to hear rape cases, which means that the rape cases do not remain
stagnant in courts for far too long. Various laws were passed and amendments were made, which
included a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in case of a rape as well as the widening of
the definition of rape. The impacts of the latter are already being felt as is evident with the Tarun
Tejpal rape case.

Although various changes were made, one might argue that there’s still a lot that needs to be
addressed. The fact that marital rape is still not considered a crime is a serious issue in our
country. Another matter that needs addressing however, is the fact that we refuse to foresee
things, and only act after a heinous crime has been committed and under immense public
scrutiny. Rape has been rampant in India for years. Why did it tak-e a brutal murder for these
laws to be passed? Surely they could have been discussed and passed years before? We must now

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make sure that the laws are stringent and the punishment for a convicted rapist should be nothing
short of death.

Aruna Shanbaug Case:

One of the oldest cases of rape that was widely covered by the media was the 1973 case of nurse
Aruna Shanbaug. She was raped by a contracted sweeper, Sohanlal Bhartha Walmiki while
working as a junior nurse at KEM Hospital in Mumbai. As a result of the assault during which
Sohanlal choked her with a dog chain, Aruna has been in a vegetative state for the last 40 years.
Her euthanasia plea was rejected by the Supreme court in 2011 but the landmark judgment was
made to allow passive euthanasia in India.

Mathura Rape Case:

The Mathura rape case is a landmark case in the history of Indian women’s rights movement. In
1972, a tribal girl named Mathura was raped by two policemen in the Chandrapur district of
Maharashtra. Initially the policemen were acquitted by the sessions court as the girl was said to
have been “habituated to sexual intercourse”. Maharashtra High Court reversed the judgment
which was again reversed by the Supreme Court. This shows the inherent patriarchal attitude of
the Indian judicial system at that time. Later large protests led to formation of women’s rights
group and a subsequent change in the Indian rape law.

Priyadarshini Mattoo Rape and Murder Case:

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Another landmark case is the Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case of 1996. She was a 25
year old law student who was raped and murdered by Santosh Kumar Singh at her house in New
Delhi. The trial court had acquitted Santosh but due to media pressure the Delhi High Court
made a landmark judgment and sentenced him to death. This was the first time media pressure
had helped to accelerate a trial and give justice to the victim.4

Anjana Mishra Rape Case:

The Anjana Mishra rape case was a high profile rape case of 1999. She was the wife of an Indian
Forest Services officer had filed a complaint with the CM of Orissa, J.B. Patnaik against the then
advocate general of Orrisa, Indrajit Ray, who had attempted to rape her in 1997. Patnaik tried to
shield Ray and later in 1999, Anjana was attacked on her way to Bhubaneshwar by three men
and was gang raped in front of her journalist friend with whom she was travelling. Indrajit Ray
received 3 years imprisonment for attempted rape while two of the three accused were sentenced
to life imprisonment after a CBI enquiry. The third accused is still absconding.

Soumya Murder Case:

Soumya was travelling on a train from Erankulam to Shornur in Kerala when she was attacked
by Govindachami in an attempt to rob her. He smashed her head on the wall and then threw her
out of the train. He then himself jumped out of the train, went back to find her, carried her to the
woods near the track and then brutally raped her. She was badly injured when she was thrown

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out of the train and later succumbed to her injuries. Govindachami was awarded capital
punishment.

Imrana Rape Case:

The Imrana rape case of 2005 brings to light another problem in India about separate laws for
separate religions. Imrana was raped by her father in law in Uttar Pradesh and the village elders
treated it as a case of adultery instead of rape and ordered Imrana to leave her husband and
consider herself married to her father in law. After a lot of media attention she got justice as her
father in law was sentenced to a term of 10 years of imprisonment.

Vishakha and Others vs. State of Rajasthan

Before the Vishakha Guidelines came in, the workplace was dangerous for many women
especially in case of sexual harassment. In 1992, Bhanwari Devi was gang-raped by upper caste
men in her village because she tried to raise her voice against child-marriage. Due to gross
negligence, the vaginal swabs collected from her body were taken 48 hours after the incident.
Ideally, it should be done so within 24 hours. Shockingly, the judge presiding over her case (this
was the seventh judge after six others were removed) acquitted the accused, even going so far to
say, " Since the offenders were upper-caste men and included a brahmin, the rape could not have
taken place because Bhanwari was from a lower caste. "Following the outrage over this
acquittal, Vishakha and some other women's groups filed a PIL against the State of Rajasthan and
the Union of India, forcing the latter to adopt the Vishakha Guidelines which now protects
working women all over the country.

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CONCLUSION
Honorable Supreme courts attitude on rape cases was lame in previous years and changes were
taken place from time to time and rapists can no longer hope of getting away by mediating with
the victim or offering to marry her and trial courts and high courts cannot pass any order
facilitating any such reconciliation. In a landmark ruling within days of Madras High Court's
controversial bail to a rape accused to 'mediate' with the survivor, the Supreme Court took a
tough stand slamming the recent trend of subordinate and high courts encouraging settlement in
rape cases saying any such attempt for mediation is "against the dignity of women". The SC
warned that any attempt by a court to initiate reconciliation between a rape accused and a victim
is illegal.

Dignity of a woman is a part of her non-perishable and immortal self and no one
should ever think of painting it in clay. There cannot be a compromise or settlement as it would
be against her honour, which matters the most. Any kind of liberal approach or a thought of
mediation in this regard is thoroughly and completely sans legal permissibility. Stating that any
proposal by the accused to marry the victim was an attempt to put pressure, the court said: “We
say with emphasis that the courts are to remain absolutely away from this subterfuge to adopt a
soft approach to the case, for any kind of liberal approach has to be put in the compartment of
spectacular error. Or to put it differently, it would be in the realm of a sanctuary of error.

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REFERANCES

1) http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/no-compromise-in-rape-case-over-
wedlock-rules-supreme-court/
2) http://homegrown.co.in/11-landmark-judgments-by-the-indian-supreme-court-in-
recent-times/
3) https://criminallawyersindia.wordpress.com/category/rape-case-judgement-of-
supreme-court-india/
4) http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2015/07/supreme-court-rape-mediation-judgement/
5) http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/FileServer/2015-07-01_1435727878.pdf

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