Rape in India: longer- term statistics, analyses
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"... There must be adequate evidence to show that at the relevant time, which is at an initial stage itself, the accused had no intention whatsoever of keeping his promise to marry the victim," the court had ruled. "There may... be circumstances when a person having the best of intentions is unable to marry the victim owing to various unavoidable circumstances. The failure to keep a promise made with respect to a future uncertain date due to reasons that are not very clear from the evidence available does not always amount to misconception of fact." | "... There must be adequate evidence to show that at the relevant time, which is at an initial stage itself, the accused had no intention whatsoever of keeping his promise to marry the victim," the court had ruled. "There may... be circumstances when a person having the best of intentions is unable to marry the victim owing to various unavoidable circumstances. The failure to keep a promise made with respect to a future uncertain date due to reasons that are not very clear from the evidence available does not always amount to misconception of fact." | ||
| − | The Bombay high court in its ruling acquitting a Borivli resident man of rape charges ([[Affair gone bad no ground for rape charge: Bombay HC]]) had taken a similar view. The court ruled that the consent was not forced as the victim had admitted to accompanying the accused to a hotel in Gorai. She had not cried out for help. The court held that the accused had "not committed sexual intercourse on false promise of marriage". "He was willing to marry her. The impediment was the proceedings filed by his first wife. Even according to the complainant, the (accused) had assured her that he would get married to her after obtaining divorce from his first wife." | + | The Bombay high court in its ruling acquitting a Borivli resident man of rape charges ([[[[[[Affair gone bad no ground for rape charge: Bombay HC]][[Affair gone bad no ground for rape charge: Bombay HC]]]]]]) had taken a similar view. The court ruled that the consent was not forced as the victim had admitted to accompanying the accused to a hotel in Gorai. She had not cried out for help. The court held that the accused had "not committed sexual intercourse on false promise of marriage". "He was willing to marry her. The impediment was the proceedings filed by his first wife. Even according to the complainant, the (accused) had assured her that he would get married to her after obtaining divorce from his first wife." |
=See also= | =See also= | ||
Revision as of 19:30, 27 July 2013
Rapes in India
This is a collection of newspaper articles selected for the excellence of their content. |
Are rapes in India under-reported--or, possibly, over-reported?
Unprecedented surge in filing of false rape cases
False cases behind Delhi's tag of rape capital: Court
PTI | Jul 27, 2013 The Times of India
The court said that after the Delhi gang rape, it led to an atmosphere where "the mere statement of a lady that she has been raped, came to be taken as the gospel truth, on the basis of which the accused was arrested and chargesheeted".
False cases give Delhi the label of 'rape capital': Judge
NEW DELHI: False cases are the reasons behind labelling of Delhi as the 'rape capital', a court in Delhi has held while acquitting a 75-year-old man on the charge of sexually assaulting his maid after the woman turned hostile.
The court said after the December 16 gang rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in Delhi, it led to the creation of an atmosphere that "the mere statement of a lady that she has been raped, came to be taken as the gospel truth, on the basis of which the accused was arrested and chargesheeted".
"This lead to an unprecedented surge in filing of false rape cases...It is these false cases which play havoc with the crime statistics, leading to the labelling of Delhi as a 'rape capital'," additional sessions judge Virender Bhat said, while acquitting Bhopal Sharma of the charge of sexually assaulting his maid.
The court observed that as acquittals in such cases are hardly ever reported, the falsely implicated persons lose their honour, dignity and status in the society and though these cannot be restored, "these victims" can be compensated so that they can start life afresh.
It also noted that "it is a matter of intense regret that even the frail, sick and aged persons are not spared from the false allegations of rape".
Bhopal Sharma and his maid (domestic employee)
The maid in her complaint had said a few days after she started working at Sharma's house in July 2012, he had raped her and after the incident, had promised to marry her.
Thereafter, he continued to have sexual relations with her on the pretext of marrying her, the maid had alleged, adding that she lodged the police complaint on October 11, 2012 after Sharma expressed his unwillingness to keep his promise.
However, during the trial, the woman turned hostile and said she had levelled false allegations on the advice of Anita and another person Kuldeep.
Live-in relationships, failed, account for 21.6% of Gurgaon rape complaints
It gets knotty when they don't tie the knot
Sanjay Yadav, TNN | Jul 24, 2013
GURGAON: The city is witnessing the emergence of a trend in intimacy with eight live-in relationships ending in rape complaints in the last three months. These eight rape cases are a sizeable percentage of the total 37 cases in the past six months.
The majority of the cases do not fit into the conventional bracket of rape
Attention has once again been drawn to the security, legality and the apparent misuse of this much-professed institution of convenience. Gurgaon police arrest the accused without fail but a majority of the cases do not fit into the conventional bracket of rape.
When live-in relationships sour, it is usually because the women feel cheated by the fact that the alleged promise of marriage is not kept.
On June 11 a woman, who worked as a software engineer in a Gurgaon-based company, accused her live-in partner of raping her for two and a half years on the pretext of marrying her. The victim was previously married to another man but left him to be with the accused and has a nine-month-old child from the relationship. Sector 40 police lodged an FIR and arrested the accused, who was later sent in judicial custody.
In another case, a 57-year-old CEO of a tour operator company was arrested by city police for allegedly raping his live-in partner. She accused her partner of raping her for six years on the pretext of marriage. The complainant, a 42-year-old owner of a spa-cum-salon in the city, had alleged that the CEO had shown her a fake divorce certificate to lure her. The accused, who was sent in judicial custody, was granted bail after some days.
Accused get bail soon
Unlike in other rape cases, the live-in partners accused of rape are usually out on bail soon.
"In many cases you find that the couples have been living together for almost a decade and one fine day the female partner wakes up and alleges rape. In many cases we do see that it's a frame-up but our hands are tied," a senior police officer told TOI on condition of anonymity.
When contacted, Alok Mittal, police commissioner, said, "If any complainant comes with a complaint of rape to us, we immediately lodge an FIR and arrest the accused. We present our investigation report in court and the court decides on the veracity of the allegations.
"It may be a new trend in live-in relationships, but on our part, we never delay lodging the FIR and arresting the accused. We do not sit in judgment on the allegation and do not make any subjective observation," the police commissioner said.
There were a couple of recent cases of fatality in live-in relationships that did not fit into the 'rape' trend. A Delhi Police inspector of the Special Cell (encounter specialist) and his live-in partner were found shot dead in suspicious circumstances at the woman's home in Ardee City in May. Earlier, a 24-year-old woman in a live-in relationship in rented accommodation near Sector 44 had committed suicide on April 14 by consuming a poisonous substance.
Statistics
Rapes in India's 5 biggest cities
More rapes in Delhi in 2012 than 4 metros put together
Dwaipayan Ghosh TNN 2013/06/14
New Delhi: Delhi’s shame continues. The National Crime Records Bureau’s report for 2012 iterates through statistics what every woman in the city knows by experience — that it remains the most unsafe for women among 88 important cities of India.
With 5,959 cases of crime against women registered last year, Delhi accounted for a staggering 14.88% of all women-related crimes reported from these 88 cities. No other city even came close to matching Delhi’s notorious record.
Bangalore was a distant second, with a share of 6.18% of all crimes against women in urban India. Next came Kolkata (5.66%) and then Mumbai (4.86%).
No crime reveals Delhi’s violence towards women better than rape. The number of rapes in the capital last year (706) was more than those reported in four other metros — Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai (484) — put together. The staggeringly high figure can’t be explained by the capital’s sprawl. For, the female population of Delhi is 75.76 lakh, lower than Mumbai (85.20 lakh) and not much higher than Kolkata (67.93 lakh).
Child rapes/ Sexual assault on children
‘336% spurt in child rape cases’
By TIMES NEWS NETWORK, The Times of India , 22 April 2013 The Times of India
Even as the national Capital protests against the heinous nature of the five-year-old child’s rape, an independent report, based on National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures, shows that India is no country for children.
The report says a total of 48,338 child rape cases was recorded between 2001 and 2011, and the nation saw an increase of 336% of such cases from 2001 (2,113) to 2011 (7,112).
The report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), however, warns that this is only the “tip of the iceberg” as the large majority of child rape cases are not reported to police while children regularly become victims of other forms of sexual assault too. Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of child rape cases with 9,465 cases between 2001 and 2011, followed by Maharashtra (6,868), Uttar Pradesh (5,949) and Andhra Pradesh (3,977). Delhi, which reported 2,909 cases, ranked sixth on the list.
The report, “India’s Hell Holes: Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes”, which has been submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, says that many of the cases take place in juvenile homes.
“It will not be an understatement to state that juvenile justice homes, established to provide care and protection as well as reintegration, rehabilitation and restoration of the juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, have become India’s hell holes where inmates are subjected to sexual assault and exploitation, torture and ill-treatment apart from being forced to live in inhuman conditions. The girls remain the most vulnerable. It matters little whether the juvenile justice homes are situated in Delhi or in mofussil towns,” said Suhas Chakma, director, ACHR.
The 56-page report also highlights 39 cases of systematic and often repeated sexual assault on children in juvenile justice homes. Out of the 39 cases, 11 were reported from governmentrun juvenile justice homes, while in one case a CWC member was accused of sexual harassment during counselling sessions.
The remaining 27 cases were reported from private or NGO-run juvenile justice homes.
Juvenile rapists
Juvenile rapists on the rise across the country
Jayaraj Sivan, TNN | Jun 19, 2013
CHENNAI: Even as a debate rages over whether or not criminal offenders in the 16-18 age group should be treated as juvenile delinquents, instances of juveniles coming into conflict with the law, especially in cases of heinous crimes such as rape, are on the rise.
Between 2010 and 2012, there was a 233% increase in juveniles getting apprehended on rape charges in Tamil Nadu. While Odisha saw the maximum increase in percentage terms (411%), in actual numbers Madhya Pradesh (284) still accounted for maximum juvenile rapists in the country, as per the latest statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau for 2012.
Uttar Pradesh reported the second highest number of juvenile rapists with 123 arrests. There were 109 arrests in Rajasthan, 106 in Maharashtra, 89 in West Bengal, 87 in Odisha and 81 in Andhra Pradesh. New Delhi, which is gaining notoriety as the rape capital of India, reported 63 arrests of juveniles on rape charges. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, 30 juveniles each were arrested on rape charges and 13 were apprehended in neighbouring Karnataka.
While a section of society advocates lowering the age of juvenile delinquents and meting out deterrent punishment to tackle such crimes, psychologists and child rights activists differ.
‘Stranger rape’
(Rapes committed by men who were strangers to the victim)
‘Stranger rape’ goes over 10%
Rukmini Shrinivasan TIG 2013/06/15
New Delhi: Was 2012 the most dangerous year for women in the capital in the recent past? One statistic would seem to suggest so: the proportion of rapes committed by men who were strangers to the victim rose above 2% for the first time in five years to cross 10%.
‘Stranger rape’ of the type that occurred in Delhi on December 16 last year tends to form the basis for women’s perceptions of public safety, but is relatively rare. Rape in India, as in the rest of the world, remains overwhelmingly a crime committed by persons known to the victim. Atthe all-India level,lessthan 2% – 453 in all — of the nearly 25,000 rapes registered during the year 2012 were committed by strangers, data released on Wednesday by the National Crime Records Bureau show. In Madhya Pradesh, the state that consistently records the largest number of rapes, all of the 3,425 assaultswereby persons known to the victim.
In Delhi too, the proportion of stranger rapes has hovered close to the 2% mark over the last five years. However 2012 NCRB data for Delhi show that 63 of the 585 rapes that were committed in 2012, or nearly 11%,wereby strangers to the victim.
While data for Delhi have been stable over the previous years, large swings between years for a few other cities raise some doubts over the accuracy of NCRB data. Bangalore is the most extreme example of this: the proportion of ‘stranger rapes’ in the southern city swung from 77% to 0% between two consecutive years, 2009 and 2010. Karnataka’s crime statistics chief hadearlier toldTOIthat it was probably a problem with the numbers. “In Bangalore and Karnataka, as in the rest of the country, rape by strangers is a very small part of total rapes,’ Praveen Sood, additional DGP, Karnataka State Crime Records Bureau, had told TOI. A spokesperson for the Delhi police said he could not comment without the exact numbers in front of him.
It’s too soon to draw conclusions based on one year’s data, agreedKalpana Vishwanath of the Delhi-based women’s rights organization Jagori. “It’s undoubtedly a fact that there is crime against women, but there also seems to be some slight increase in the last six months. There is greater family and community supportto girlswhowantto speak out, and a little less of blaming the victim,” Vishwanath said.
Victims of rape also tend to be younger in cities than in the rest of the India, more so in Delhi. In the cities for which NCRB provides data, justover half the rape victims were aged 18 or less. The corresponding all-India figure was just 36.5%. In Delhi, 329 of the 585 victimes, or about 56.2% were aged 18 or less.
Compensation for rape victims
‘Compensate rape victims’:Supreme Court
TIMES NEWS NETWORK 25/04/2013
New Delhi:Victims of sexual assault need a completely different treatment than what is meted out to them by society and state authorities, the Supreme Court has said and ordered all states to implement its 18-year-old directive.
The 1995 judgment of the apex court had directed setting up of Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and said it could take up the task of determining the amount to be paid by the offender to rape victims who incur huge financial loss apart from carrying the unwarranted stigma.
“The board shall take into account the pain, suffering and shock as well as loss of earnings due to pregnancy and the expenses of child birth if this occurred as a result of rape,” the court has said in Delhi Domestic Working Women’s Forum case.
Reiterating the guidelines, a bench of Justices B S Chauhan and F M I Kaliffulla said, “Undoubtedly any direction issued by this court is binding on all the courts and all civil authorities within the territory of India.” While dealing with a rape case from Madhya Pradesh, the bench accepted arguments of Vibha Datta Makhija and upheld the HC’s decision to reverse the acquittal of one Dilip who was accused of rape.
The lack of sensitivity shown towards the rape victim by the prosecution and the trial court anguished the bench and said that the 18-year-old directive asking the prosecution and states and Justices Chauhan and Kalifulla decided to add more norms to the guidelines.
Compensate rape victims in 2 months, Bombay HC tells state govt
Rosy Sequeira, TNN | Jul 26, 2013
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday granted a state government request for two months to implement a scheme to compensate rape and sexual assault victims but reminded it that such incidents were increasing. The HC said the government "cannot take its own sweet time and delay its implementation.
A division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and S B Shukre heard a public interest litigation by the Forum Against Oppression of Women to direct the government to constitute a victim compensation fund mandated by the Supreme Court to states in 1995. The principal secretary (women & child development) appeared in court after the judges, at a previous hearing, were miffed when told there were no funds to rehabilitate victims.
Assistant public prosecutor Prajakta Shinde sought time as the proposal was pending before the home department since July 16. "At this rate, you will want months together. How long should anybody wait? said Dharmadhikari. "Does the cabinet not meet during the assembly session? Is it not possible for the cabinet to take advantage of placing it before the assembly? For such ameliorative measures, who is going to say no? he said.
The judges expressed "surprise that even after "an officer as high as the chief secretary" held a meeting, the process to obtain comments and approval of other departments was initiated.
"The chief secretary, after convening a meeting, does not get departmental approval? You must impress upon people who are part of the welfare state. Such incidents are increasing. You cannot take you own sweet time, Justice Dharmadhikari said.
Shinde sought two months to implement the scheme. "It will be taken up on priority, she said. The petitioner's advocate, Vijay Hiremath, said accounts had been opened in May but after that no action was taken. Dharmadhkari riposted, "If there is a scheme in place, let it start. We must not start the process of finding fault. As citizens we must show concern for victims." The judges said the state must show a "sense of urgency in formulating and implementing schemes to offer solace to victims".
They said that at least now the state must show concern and respond to the needs of victims so that they have support in their battle for justice. They said the scheme was expected to be in place by the next hearing in eight weeks and added that there will be no extension.
The legal aspect: What constitutes a rape?
Affair gone bad no ground for rape charge: Bombay HC
Shibu Thomas, TNN | Jul 12, 2013
MUMBAI: A love affair gone bad is no reason to charge a man who got a woman pregnant with rape, the Bombay high court has ruled. Justice Sadhna Jadhav acquitted Borivali resident Manesh Kotiyan (39) of rape charges three years after his arrest and subsequent conviction.
"The very fact that the prosecution has admitted in the cross-examination that she had a love affair with the accused and she desired to marry him. In these circumstances, offence under Section 376 of the IPC (rape) would necessarily fail," said Justice Jadhav ruling that the rape charges against Kotiyan were "unsustainable".
The court went through the prosecution case and noted that the accused had proposed to the girl. "The complainant is an educated adult person," said the judge. "She was fully aware of the fact that he (Kotiyan) was attracted to her. She chose to accompany him to Gorai. She also checked into a hotel to celebrate his birthday. She was aware of the consequences," said the judge.
"She had not cried for help and had not taken her resistance to a logical end. Hence, it would not be justifiable to hold that the consent was obtained by intimidation, force meditated imposition, circumvention surprise or undue influence," said the judge.
The court, however, upheld Kotiyan's conviction on charges of cheating as he had failed to disclose to the victim that he was married and had children. Since he has served around three years in prison, the court ordered his release.
"There is no evidence that the accused coerced her and raped her," said advocate Arfan Sait, who was appointed by the high court legal aid cell to defend Kotiyan. "He had always intended to marry her and had told her he would do so once the divorce proceedings ended."
The case dates back to March 2010, when the girl who was four months pregnant lodged a case of rape against Kotiyan. The two had met when they were working at a stationery shop in Borivli. In November 2009, they had gone to Gorai to celebrate Kotiyan's birthday, where according to the prosecution he forced her into having sexual intercourse. A sessions court in 2012 held Kotiyan guilty of rape and sentenced him to seven years rigorous imprisonment. Kotiyan filed an appeal in the HC. "It is clear from her deposition that she had lodged the FIR in a fit of rage," the HC said.
The nature of the consent
'Nailing rapist hinges on nature of consent'
Shibu Thomas, TNN | Jul 15, 2013
MUMBAI: In recent rulings in rape cases filed after a relationship went awry, courts considered three key aspects —consent, how that consent was obtained and whether or not the accused had mala fide intention in promising marriage before getting into a physical relationship with the victim.
If a victim deposes that she did not give her consent, then the court has to presume that she did not give her consent
India has one of the toughest laws with regards to rape, where if a victim deposes that she did not give her consent, then the court has to presume that she did not give her consent (Section 114-A of the Indian Evidence Act). Section 90 of the IPC stipulates that a consent given under a misconception of fact is not valid.
In cases where love affairs have failed, the law states that if the victim, under a misconception of fact that the accused was likely to marry her, submits to his lust, then such an act is not consensual. Courts have taken a nuanced look at such cases.
Did the accused make a false promise of marriage?
"There is a clear distinction between rape and consensual sex and in a case like this, the court must very carefully examine whether the accused had actually wanted to marry the victim, or had mala fide motives, and had made a false promise to this effect only to satisfy his lust, as the latter falls within the ambit of cheating or deception," the Supreme Court said in a ruling in May. "There is a distinction between the mere breach of a promise and not fulfilling a false promise."
The apex court held that an accused can be convicted of rape only if the court reaches a conclusion that his intention was mala fide and he had clandestine motives.
"... There must be adequate evidence to show that at the relevant time, which is at an initial stage itself, the accused had no intention whatsoever of keeping his promise to marry the victim," the court had ruled. "There may... be circumstances when a person having the best of intentions is unable to marry the victim owing to various unavoidable circumstances. The failure to keep a promise made with respect to a future uncertain date due to reasons that are not very clear from the evidence available does not always amount to misconception of fact."
The Bombay high court in its ruling acquitting a Borivli resident man of rape charges ([[[[Affair gone bad no ground for rape charge: Bombay HCAffair gone bad no ground for rape charge: Bombay HC]]]]) had taken a similar view. The court ruled that the consent was not forced as the victim had admitted to accompanying the accused to a hotel in Gorai. She had not cried out for help. The court held that the accused had "not committed sexual intercourse on false promise of marriage". "He was willing to marry her. The impediment was the proceedings filed by his first wife. Even according to the complainant, the (accused) had assured her that he would get married to her after obtaining divorce from his first wife."
