Important Rights of the Rape Victims

Introduction

As we know that rape has been defined under the Section 375 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 thus, it states “sexual intercourse with a woman against her will, without her consent, by coercion, misrepresentation or fraud or at a time when she has been intoxicated or duped, or is of unsound mental health and in any case if she is under 18 years of age.”

And as we know that Rape is one of the heinous offences against the dignity and even the integrity of one person which is not only the mentally and physically but it also degrades the victims and it also leaves behind the social blemishes, stigmas and the unhealing the wounds for the life of victim.

Moreover, such kind of the crime always reflective the animal and inhuman instincts of the man in the amount to sever the destruction of the victims right to live and such the law has provided to the sufferer with some of the certain rights to prevent further harassment while pursuing the claim of her for the compensation and to punish the perpetrator of the crime.

There are certain statistics like it is very disturbing that figures on the rape revealed in the report which is entitled the crime in India by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2019 and this also stated that every 16 minutes a woman must be rapes somewhere in India and every 4 minute a woman faces cruelty by her in laws. Even in the 2019 our country had also recorded 88 rape cases every day and moreover it convicted the rate for the rape over the years which have been as low as the 30% of the persistently.

It was and is very shocking that rapes are most often committed on the females from the age of the 8 years to 84 years and after all of this total incident of the rape it is always only reported by the 11% due to the lack of the faith in the judicial system and societal taboos and even due to poverty.

Recently it came to notice that the majority of the cases comes against women under the IPC and all they are registered under the Cruelty by the husband or their relatives which is 30.9% and it is also followed by the Assault on the Women with the Intent to the Outrage of her Modesty 21.8% even the kidnapping and abduction of the women 17.9% and the rape 7.9%. in the recent years the crime rate has been registered per lakh by the women population which is 62.4% in 2019 and this data is shared by the NCRB in the comparison with the 58.8% in the year of 2018.

Six Important Rights Of The Rape Victims

Right to Zero Fir

This particular right means that any person can file and FIR in any of the police station irrespective of the place of the incident in any of the Jurisdiction and that same FIR will later shall be transferred to the police station which is having the jurisdiction for the investigation to begin with.

For example if there is girl got raped by someone in Lucknow, U.P by someone and she did not wanted to tell anyone about that incident that such thing happened to her and she directly came to Kanpur, U.P and now after coming to her home she got control over self and her mind any now she wants to get that rapist behind the bars so that he could never do such thing to the other girl and while using this right she can directly go the Kanpur police station and file an FIR against that rapist and that same FIR will be transferred by the Kanpur police to the Lucknow police.

Thus, this is known as the Zero FIR and this concept has come into the force after Nirbhaya case. The committee of the Justice Verma has introduced this concept of the Zero FIR in his report findings and even the Ministry of the Home Affairs had also come into introduction of the Advisory Circular one the date of 10.05.2013 of the Home Affairs for the Zero FIR.[1]

After the Nirbhaya Gang Rape the rape victims have been conferred with the various rights which ensure their Dignity, Privacy, Protection, Speedy Trials and also the compensation.

Thus, this concept of the Zero Fir has also been recognized by the Delhi High Court in various case such as in the case Kirti Vashist vs. State and Ors[2]. In this case it was clearly stated by the high court that a victim can always file an FIR in any of the police station and thus, that FIR as to be registered by the police officer without any of the delay in inquiry.

The case of the Lalita Kumari vs. Government of U.P [3]in this case the Supreme Court has clearly stated that the person can file the FIR under the Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 in this section if any police officer denied filing FIR then he may face some of the consequences under the Section 166A of Indian Penal Code which states that if the public servants fails to record any of the information under Sub-Section (1) of the Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 then he shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment of the six months which may be extend to two years and shall also be liable to the fine.

Free Medical Treatment in Any Private Hospital

According to the sections of 357(C) of the Code of Criminal Procedure which has the no private or government hospitals can also charge fees for the treatment of the rape victims. All the hospitals either private or the public which shall immediately provide the first aid to the victims for the free of cost. If any of the hospitals demand a fee for the treatment of the rape victims, then they can be punished under Section 166B of the Indian Penal Code for up to 1 year and shall be liable for a fine or both.

No Two-Finger Test during The Medical Examination

This right restricted doctors to that they will not possess the two-finger tests while doing the medical examination and according to this Section 164A of the Code of Criminal Procedure this particular section explains that how to the report will be made and what things will be written under the report.

There is case of the Supreme Court which itself supported this ruling in the case of Lillu Alias Rajesh and Another vs State of Haryana [4]and stated that the Two Finger test is also the interpretation which also violates the right of rape victims and even their privacy, dignity and their mental integrity and which is completely illegal. The doctor’s work is to only check whether there is any injury in the private parts or not? And to just see that rape has been committed with the victim or not and to also check that there is any recent sexual activity that has been happened or not?

Thus, no doctor has the right to check about any of the past activity of the victims. And as keeping this in mind the Ministry of the Health has issued a Guidelines under that a medico-kit has been provided in every hospital to collect the DNA sample for the forensic testing. And that report should always contain such thing on it – name and address, age, description of the material taken for the DNA testing, marks of the injury if there are any, general mental conditions and other reasonable material if any.

Thus, if any male doctor is taking the medical examination of the rape victim if there is no female doctor present at that time then in this condition male doctor has to take a consent from the victim and he has to also inform all the objects that he will be using at the time of the examination and what all procedure he will be going to follow but he can never use Two-Finger test otherwise he will be charged for the rape under section 375 of the IPC [5]for inserting an object in the private part. Thus, Chhattisgarh State Government has clearly mentioned and stated that the medical examination should always be done by the female doctor only.

Harassment Free and Time-Bound Police Investigation

According to the Cr.PC section 154(1) that statement must be always recorded by a women police officer or any other officer and that particular officer will always come as per the time decided by the victim or the Favorable to the victim and they should also fix the place as per the victim convenience.

The women police officer must record the statement in the victim’s parents or the guardian even the magistrate can also record the statement as per the section 164(5A). thus, the lady police officer shall take the victim in the court and that statement shall also be recorded in the chambers of the magistrate and this is only done to verify the statement of the police is correct or not.

If any of the rape victim is mental disabled and is not able to explain the situation that whatever happened then in this condition the Analyzer Educator Social Interpretation will be present at that moment to understand the signs of the victims. This whole procedure is for doing the same is so that victims does not have to tell the incident again and again in trial court thus, the statement given to the magistrate shall be finalized and it will not violate the rights to the privacy of the victims.

Trial with Full Dignity, Speedy And Protection

According to the Section 26 of the CrPC states that the trial shall be practicable by the court that it presided over by the women and further no questions should be asked to the victim as it reflects that the character assassination is going on of her.

The section 53 A of the Indian Evidence act states that any state shall also be conducted on the camera, the section 327(2) of the CrPC has also defines the inquiry and trials of the rape that it should always be conducted on the camera and even the section 327(3) of the CrPC has also stated that the statement can also be given by the victim to the magistrate which shall always be confidential and there are several more section which are used for the rights of the victims.

Thus, the protection should be given by the Court so that no one can ever threaten to the victim and even to the witness and also it is the responsibility of the police that they will pick up the victim from her house and drop her safe after the trial and there are a special waiting rooms which are made in the court where the victim and the witness will also wait so that no confrontation can happen with the rapist.

There is a case of the Supreme Court of the Mahendra Chawla vs Union of India [6]which gave the detailed guideline that if the witness does not want to reveal his/her name or the identity in the court then he/she can give an application to the court and then court will introduce the person with another name and the original identity which will be kept completely confidential.

Right to Compensation

The victims shall always be granted an interim to relief which amounts to 25% of the compensation amount, irrespective of the whether she was successful in her claim or not. There is a National Legal Services Authority which has also released the Rules for the compensation in the Compensation Scheme for the Women who are the victims or the survivors of the sexual assault and the other crimes according to the year 2018.

In the case of the Serina Mondal Alias Piyada vs. State of West Bengal in the 2018[7] the SCC Calcutta 4238, the rape was restated as the failure of the state to protect the rights to live of the victim. The Hon’ble Court observed that the compensation is awarded under the scheme as formulated pursuant to Section 357A of CrPC as the fundamental rights of the victims under the Article 21 which has been in the fact violated. Denial of the compensation to such victim would continue such violation and perpetrate gross inhumanity on the victims in question. In the case of Manohar Singh vs. State of Rajasthan[8] and others the court justified the interim compensation to the victim even if the crime goes unpunished.

There are several Factor which also include while pursuing the claim for the compensation are the Mental harm/ physical harm, Loss of educational opportunity, Loss of employment, If the victim gets infected by a diseases, financial condition of the victim or the disability of the victim or in the case of death.

Conclusion

As we all know that Rape is one or a heinous crime and many people will suffer because of such crimes and for their entire in life and some people are also afraid of getting the slander. But if we think in the right way and taking the right action is better than stepping back because of the society’s which influence.

Thus, no one matters more than our life. We should always be there for ourself even when no one stands with us. Through this article is making understand that our government has taken every necessary step towards the rape victims. Even after these punishments in our country is indulged in these crimes.

And we are moving towards a literate society where we are expected to maintain the dignity and understand our moral values and these crimes in any area of the country are not only unacceptable but also tell the dark future of our country. It’s not only the responsibility of our government to maintain law and order in society, it’s our responsibility also to maintain law and order in a society where every girl can live without any fear of getting raped.

This article has been contributed by Anjali Singh, student at The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies.

End Notes

[1] https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/AdvisoryCompulsoryRegistrationFIRs_141015_3.pdf

[2] 29-11-2017

[3] 2014 (2) SCC 1

[4] 2013 (4) SCC 1

[5] https://indiankanoon.org/doc/623254/

[6] 5-12-2018

[7] 2018 SCC online Cal 4238

[8] 2015 (3) SCC 449