Sexual Offences - Rape
Author: Suhail Mathur
Author: Suhail Mathur
It is often said that in some aspects, each country is different from another..be it their customs, their traditions, their language, their culture etc, which also implies that in certain aspects, all the countries have similarities with each other.Now while some of these aspects may be completely positive in nature, there are certain aspects which rest on the dark, dingy, and gloomy side. And the the most omnipotent force which has spread its huge giagantic wings the world over is Crime..which exists in different forms and unfortunately forms an integral part of each and every society.Now crimes are of two types, one in which the physical pain or bodily injury is visible and the other is where mental harm is caused.But there exists a category of crime which encompasses both bodily harm with mental trauma and that is the sexual offence of Rape. To see to it that such offences are not committed, the Indian Penal Code has very carefully and beautifully elucidated various sections under the offence of rape. Under Section 375 of the IPC, a man is said to commit '' rape '' who, except the case hereinafter excepted has sexual intercourse under any of the six following descriptions- 1) Against her will, 2) Without her consent, 3) With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person she is intersted in fear of death or of hurt, 4) 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, 5) With her consent, when, at the time of giving such consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she gives consent, 6) With or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age. However, it is important to note that penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse necessary to the offence of rape and that sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape. The courts too, have been unrelenting in punishing the perpetuators of this ghastly offence.In Ram Charan v State of MP..1993 Cr LJ 1825 ( MP ) & Saifuddin v Union of India, 2002 Cr LJ 3159 ( J & K ), there was a dismissal of an army man from service under Section 376(2) on account of rape which was proved. As mentioned before, it is no defence that the woman consented after the act and an important case in this regard is Shyama Sunder v State, 2003 Cri LJ 1354 ( Ori ), dragged the girl behind the bushes while she was on her way tothe river, forced her to have sex which was proved by witnesses and it was held immaterial that the girl had a bath afterwards and no trace of forcible sex was visible on her body or clothes. Age factor in giving consent is to be given primary importance.In Rajan v State of Rajasthan, 2002 Cr LJ 3152 ( Raj ). The court held that the girl being less than sixteen years of age, the fact that she was a consenting party was immaterial. Talking of custodial rape, one of the most prominent cases was the case of Raj Kumar v State of HP, where the prosecutrix and her husband were taken into custody by the police on the false pretext of abduction.The couple was kept in seperate rooms, where the wife was raped several times by the head constable and accordingly his conviction was upheld under section 375. There is a lot of discussion on the question of whether wearing short and skimpy dresses by women is an invitation to rape.While on one hand it can be said that it is a reasonable cause, on the other hand, this discussion falls flat on its face as if this was to be the truth then who would explain the phenomena of two year old infantsand sixty year old women being raped and secondly a person has the full right as to what one should wear and just by wearing skimpy outfits doesnt necessarily mean that a female wants to be raped. Recently the rape case involving actor Shiney Ahuja with his domestic help was in news and created quite a furore but the fact remains that for a rape victim, who suffers immense mental trauma, sees no difference between an actor or any person from another profession, as for her he's not a doctor,engineer, businessman or actor..he's just...a Rapist. - Suhail Mathur About the Author:
Suhail Mathur is a first year student of law, currently pursuing his legal studies from National Law School,Delhi.Apart from having interest in Law, he is an avid film buff and has also directed several films, many of which are quite popular on the internet.