DHARMASHASTRA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY,
JABALPUR (M.P.)

SUBJECT – Sociology
TOPIC- DO HARSHER PUNISHMENT UNDER RAPE LAWS SOLVE
THE ROOT CAUSE OF RAPE?

SUBMITTED TO: Ms. Deeplaxmi Chile

(Assistant professor of Sociology)

SUBMITTED BY – Shreem Shukla

(Along with Tanay, Abhay, Avanish and Chanchal)
[Link]. B (Hons) | Semester III | BALLB/097/22

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am extremely privileged to have this opportunity to thank my teachers under whose guidance and
assistance I was able to complete my project. All my work is possible because of their selfless
supervision of me.

I would like to thank the Vice – Chancellor of our university for his cooperative attitude towards
every student of our university and for giving me an opportunity to gain knowledge and to do a
creative assignment, which will result in the enhancement of my research skills.

With a deep sense of respect, I wholeheartedly Thanks Ms. Deeplaxmi Chile Ma’am (Assistant
Professor, Sociology) for providing this assignment and giving me all support and guidance, which
helped me complete my project.

Thank You

Shreem Shukla

BALLB/097/22

Batch 2027

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 ABSTRACT
This research paper focuses on the ambiguity under the Indian Rape laws. It focuses on the voidness
that exist under Indian Rape laws. The difference in the misuse and the implementation of the laws
is the major problem that exists in the system. Researcher focused on the fact that on one side the law
is misused by the ones who have the power to exploit it and on the other hand it is not reaching to the
ones who actually need it. This paradox that is present in the rape laws is the main issue. Researcher
tried to find the solution to this paradox. Researcher also referred the discourses that shaped the rape
laws in India and the journey that India covered from Mathura to Nirbhaya to Hyderabad gang rape
that developed the contemporary stand that exists on the rape laws in India.

Researcher would try to find answers to some of the leading questions that she identified, and the
flow of the paper would be decided by the same. These questions are- Is justice served to the victim
by the provision of harsher punishment? What is the impact of harsher punishment on criminals for
the deterrence of crime? What course of action can be adopted to provide justice to a victim who
don’t want accused to be punished? How can the void between the misuse and proper implementation
of rape laws can be solved?

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

RESEARCH PROBLEM
LIMITATIONS AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

CHAPTER II
EVOLUTION OF DEFINITION OF RAPE AS A CRIME

CHAPTER III
JUSTICE VERMA COMMITTEE REPORT AND CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENTS

CHAPTER IV
SURVEY OF GENERAL PUBLIC

CHAPTER V
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAGHY

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 CHAPTER- I
INTRODUCTION
As every coin has two sides and nothing in the legal system can be objectively applied, so how the
punishment prescribed under rape laws are subjective as well as objective at the same time. It is a
though provoking question that how the punishment prescribed for rape strikes a balance between
accused rights and victim’s rights. One of the major issues or a blessing in disguise for the punishment
under rape laws is the fact that these laws are victim centric. This means that the law will inherently
support the victim and the accused and the accused will have to prove his innocence in the court.
There are many incidents where people are wrongly accused for the rape crime just for personal
grudges or for personal benefits. But this misuse can not deny the fact that many victims are still
unable to get justice due to various social factors.
This void in the law or the gap in implementation where law is misused by once having means to
exploit the law whereas the actual sufferers ae unable to approach the law for justice. How can this
be implemented in such a way so as to minimise its misuse and maximise the benefit or to serve the
actual purpose for which the law was actually implemented. In what ways the implementing
authorities should act in order to serve this purpose.
Also, one more issue with such harsher punishment under rape laws is the fact that justice is also
subjective to every victim. Sometimes victims are the ones who don’t want accused to be punished
because of the fact that accused is in the close relation with victim or accused is the sole earner for
the victim or victim is completely dependent upon the accused for her livelihood.
The society of India, particularly the rural settings where rape is still a stigma and a matter of shame
for the people in that society. In such a scenario, people blames the victims instead of blaming
accused. In such situations victim becomes the one who serves the societal punishment for being
raped. Accused is the one who is getting all the means in the jail and is also cut-off from the society’s
trial. Here, the victim suffers the society’s trial. In India loosing virginity before marriage is still a
marriage of shame and when it is a rape, girl suffers the society’s trial and carries that trauma her
whole life.

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So, in such cases what will be the justice for victim when accused will be released after serving the
sentence and living the normal life as before but the girl carries that devastating experience her whole
life and society cements down her inimical experience through constant attacks of humiliation?

The major issues identified here are;

• Is justice serve to the victim by the provision of harsher punishment?

• What is the impact of harsher punishment on criminals for the deterrence of crime?
• What course of action can be adopted to provide justice to a victim who don’t want accused
to be punished?
• How can the void or gap between the misuse and proper implementation of rape laws?

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

[Link] determine the impact of harsher punishment on criminals.

[Link] determine the root cause of rape.

[Link] determine whether punishment suffice in deterring rape

[Link] determine the sociological analysis of the punishment of rape on society as a whole

5. To analyse the effect of rape on the victim.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
[Link] is the root cause of rape?

2. Is justice serve to the victim by the provision of harsher punishment?

[Link] is the impact of harsher punishment on criminals for the deterrence of crime?

[Link] course of action can be adopted to provide justice to a victim who don’t want accused to be

punished?

[Link] can the void or gap between the misuse and proper implementation of rape laws

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RESEARCH PROBLEM
Research problem includes how can the void of misuse and proper implementation that exists under
rape laws be solved and what course of action can be adopted for this purpose.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In his new book, lawyer and academician Mrinal Satish suggests formulation of sentencing guidelines
for courts to end arbitrariness and personal biases while awarding punishment in rape cases. Even
with stringent laws in place to deter sexual violence against women, inconsistencies in the judicial
process many a time leads to lighter punishment for the perpetrators. Often women are judged by
their past sexual history – whether they had been sexually active or acquainted with the accused.
Lawyer and academician Mrinal Satish’s book Discretion, Discrimination and the Rule of Law:
Reforming Rape Sentencing in India, examines the rape sentencing regime in India to tell us why the
judiciary needs sentencing guideline.
The well-researched book throws light on the rape sentencing pattern in India by examining about
800 cases decided by the Supreme Court of India and 21 High Courts over a quarter of a century –
between 1984 and 2009.
The author argues that rape adjudication in India has always been impacted by pre-conceived notions,
myths and stereotypes about the offence and about victims of rape.
Rape myths – such as absence of injury indicates consent during intercourse; or rape by a stranger is
necessarily “more traumatic” than by an acquaintance – are prime factors considered in rape
sentencing, the author says.
Satish’s book narrates various examples to convey to readers that a higher sentence is given to
convicts for “taking away” the virginity of a chaste woman.
He says this stems from stereotypes prevailing in the country which consider virginity to be of utmost
importance to a woman. He gives an example of a Supreme Court case where it opined that an
unmarried woman would not falsely allege rape because that would hamper her prospects of finding
a match in a “respectable or acceptable” family
In Madan Gopal Kakkad vs Naval Dubey, the Supreme Court noted the “pitiable” state of the victim
and observed: “(the victim) having lost her virginity still remains unmarried... (she) is under the

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impression that there is no monsoon season in her life and that her future chances for getting married
and settling down in respectable family is completely marred.”
The book says that courts often take into consideration various factors, which are not related to law,
or even the facts of the case, but on the personal philosophy of the sentencing judge.
His analysis shows that presence of injuries on victim or violence lead to increased sentence and their
absence translates to “consent” of victim and “non-injuries rapes are not really violent crimes”.
The book also takes a look at the consideration of mitigating factors by courts while sentencing the
offenders. For instance, in a case where a six-year-old-girl was raped by a man, the judge let him free
considering that he was suffering from tuberculosis and was 65% paralysed in his left limbs.
The judge said since “nature has punished him enough”, a custodial sentence of 23 days (which he
had already spent during pre-trial detention) would be sufficient.
“The inconsistent application of mitigating factors is a major cause for unwarranted disparity in
sentencing and also raises issues of fairness. It amounts to an arbitrary exercise of judicial discretion,
which could lead to the entire sentencing system being unconstitutional,” says the author.
In order to do away with such disparity in punishment in rape cases, the book suggests formulation
of sentencing guidelines for court that detail factors that should and should not be considered while
sentencing, to ensure principled sentencing by courts.

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 CHAPTER II
EVOLUTION OF DEFINITION OF RAPE AS A CRIME

Even though rape is one of the most horrible and barbaric crimes in history, it has taken a lengthy
fight for it to be recognized as a crime against the physical integrity and sexual liberty of women.
Women had no rights and were treated like simple property for most of history, hence rape was only
considered a crime to violate another man's property.
The concept of rape as a crime underwent a major modification with the passage of time due to
changes in cultural norms and beliefs. The anti-rape laws were first listed in the IPC in 1860. The
Indian rape laws have their roots in English common law. The claim made by Sir Matthew Hale, a
lawyer from the seventeenth century, that rape is "an accusation easily to be made and hard to prove,
and harder to be defended by the party accused, though never so innocent" is not accurate.
It demonstrates the unfair treatment of victims by colonial tribunals. Because it was thought that the
ladies could be lying, the trial courts focused more on establishing the victim's innocence than on
establishing the accused's guilt. Focusing on her prior sexual relationships or her virginity was what
ultimately decided how the case turned out.
Eventually, due to certain severe incidents that resulted in numerous significant legal revisions, anti-
rape legislation became stronger throughout the years. With the expansion of the women's movement,
which resulted in knowledge and a shift in societal attitudes, the demand for new legislation gained
pace.
Major cases that supported the amendment in the existing legislation includes- Mathura rape case,
Delhi rape case, Unnao, Kathua, Hathras and Hyderabad rape cases. These cases lead to the criminal
law amendments of 1983, 2013 and 2018 and the evolution of perception of rape cases in India. Justice
Verma Committee was also constituted after the Delhi gang rape case to suggest the reforms in the
anti-rape laws. Committee suggested some major reforms but those could not be implemented.

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MATHURA RAPE CASE TO DELHI RAPE CASE TO HYDERABAD RAPE CASE

The anti-rape laws have undergone several revisions due to the rise in crime throughout the years.
The widely criticized Mathura case caused a national controversy, which ultimately resulted in the
1983 Criminal Law Amendment Act.
In the case Tukaram and Others v. State of Maharashtra from 1972, Mathura, a teenage Adivasi girl,
was accused of being sexually assaulted by two policemen while they were holding her. When the
case came before the sessions court, the judge cleared the cops, saying that the prosecution had not
shown sufficient evidence to support its claims. Although she engaged in sexual activity while at the
police station, the court found that there was a "world of difference" between that activity and rape.
She was also described as having a "habit of sexual intercourse," therefore her consent was free will.
When the appeal reached the High Court, it found both of the defendants guilty and punished them,
concluding that "passive submission" had occurred. The child "felt helpless in the presence of people
in authority" and "inferred that her submission was a result of fear and therefore no consent in the
eyes of law," according to the statement.
The highest court overturned the decision in its final judgment, clearing the cops on the basis that "the
girl had not raised any alarm" and "there were no marks of injury on the girl," which suggested that
the alleged intercourse was a "peaceful affair."
The four academics Upendra Baxi, Raghunath Kelkar, Lotika Sarkar, and Vasudha Dhagamwar sent
an open letter to the Chief Justice of India criticising the idea of "consent" in the ruling, which resulted
in widespread protests against the decision.
In the letter, they made a contrast between consent and submission, stating that although the former
always entails the latter. A lack of opposition is not always a sign of agreement.
The letter sparked public outrage, and several feminist organisations were established. A review of
the verdict was requested by the feminist organisation Forum against Oppression of Women, which
is located in Mumbai. The women's movement was subsequently mobilized, and coordinated protests
took place in Bombay, Delhi, Nagpur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.
Furthermore, the discussion over the necessity for rape law reform was triggered by the rise in
custodial rape cases, such as the Rameeza Bee and Maya Tyagi cases, and this resulted in the

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enactment of The criminal law (second amendment) Act, 1983. Significant amendments were made
by the legislation, and sections 376-B, 376-C, and 376-D were added to address custodial rape. The
Indian Evidence Act, 1872 was amended to include Section 114A, which states that if a girl claims in
court that she never consented, the court should infer as much and the burden of proof for consent
lays with the accused. The amendment also included section 228A to the IPC, which dealt with the
crime of disclosing the victim's identify.
The court made several forward-thinking judgements about rape statutes in the years that followed,
emphasising that the cases should be handled with the utmost care. The State Of Punjab v. Gurmit
Singh & Ors13 case before the Supreme Court of India on January 16, 1996 stated: "Rape is not only
a physical attack - it is frequently damaging to the whole identity of the victim. A murderer obliterates
the victim's physical body, whereas a rapist ruins the hapless woman's entire soul. Further, the court
was of the opinion that, "While every latitude should be given to the accused to test the veracity of
the prosecutrix and the credibility of her version through cross-examination, the court must also
ensure that cross-examination is not made a means of harassing or causing humiliation to the victim
of crime." This was due to the growing criticism of how the victims were treated in court during their
cross-examination.
However, there have also been a number of unsettling rulings when judges displayed a retrograde and
patriarchal attitude and the accused was found not guilty based on flimsy justifications. In the case of
Bhanwari, a Kumhar woman who was trained as a sathin and worked for Women's Development
Project, she received harsh criticism and ostracism from upper class men for her work on various
social issues that questioned traditional practises like child marriage, which led to her being gang
raped.
The court cleared the accused because, in its opinion, it is not acceptable in Indian culture for a man
to have secretly observed his wife being gang-raped. The court also ruled that "an upper-caste man
could not have defiled himself by raping a lower-caste woman."
Although Bhanwari Devi battled for nearly her whole life without ever receiving justice, it was
because of her situation that activists from Jaipur and Delhi-based organisations filed a public interest
suit before the Supreme Court. It was claimed that Bhanwari's attackers only pursued her because of
her employment, therefore the court established the famous Vishakha Guidelines, which established
standards to shield women from sexual harassment in the workplace.

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THE NIRBHAYA RAPE CASE

The horrific Delhi rape case of 2012 shattered the whole nation when an innocent teenager was
brutally gang-raped and given the moniker Nirbhaya by the media because she refused to divulge her
identify in accordance with Section 228A (2) of the IPC. She was viciously gang-raped by six guys
in Delhi, and they tore out her internal organs and damaged her private parts in a most inhumane way,
causing severe injuries that finally took her life. She was treated as an object, a test subject, and a
victim of the six's pervert inclination.
"The young lady suffered immense trauma due to the attitude, perception, bestial proclivity,
incomprehensible self-obsession, and individual centralism of the six, and in the end, the life-spark
that moves the bodily frame got extinguished despite receiving all available medical care," says the
author. She succumbed to her injuries and passed away in a hospital in Singapore on December 29,
2012.
The Supreme Court affirmed the death penalty for the four defendants in 2017 after finding that the
case fit the definition of a "rarest of rare case" and that they had been found guilty of rape, kidnapping,
murder, and the destruction of evidence. According to the terms of the Juvenile Justice Act, the
juvenile offender who reportedly committed suicide at Tihar Jail, Ram Singh, was given a three-year
sentence in a reform centre.

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 CHAPTER III
JUSTICE VERMA COMMITTEE REPORT AND CRIMINAL LAW
AMENDMENTS

After the Nirbhaya case, there were widespread protests at the national level, which prompted the
government to act immediately. As a consequence, the Justice J.S. Verma committee was established
to provide recommendations for changes to the penal code. The committee provided advice on a wide
variety of topics pertaining to various types of sexual offences.

The connection between the accused and the complainant being irrelevant to the investigation into
whether the complainant agreed to the sexual activity, the Committee suggested that the exemption
for marital rape be deleted. It offered suggestions for the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2012, and criticised the internal complaints committee
system that was currently in existence, claiming that it was ineffective in achieving the goals of the
Bill. It also suggested the creation of an employment tribunal.

The committee believed that rape offences needed to be classified in terms of their severity when it
came to punishment. According to the committee, there are certain situations where the victim or
survivor is still at a place where she may get some help from society to get over the trauma and lead
a regular life. To put it another way, we do not claim that a circumstance like this is less morally
reprehensible, but rather that the degree of harm to the victim may be significantly less and does not
call for capital punishment.

The Working Group on Human Rights' argument that "the murder rate in India has consistently
decreased over the last 20 years, despite the slowdown in the execution of death sentences since
1980," was taken into consideration. The committee consequently believed that the death sentence
for rape might not serve as a deterrence. The majority of academics, women's organisation leaders,
and other stakeholders who firmly argued that "seeking the death penalty would be a backward step
in the field of sentencing and reformation" were also taken into consideration by the committee.
However, they made the sentence more severe to include the rest of one's life.

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The Committee also suggested that specific offences including voyeurism, stalking, and intentional
touching be added to the Penal Code. Additionally, it discussed the "two-finger test" practise used
during the victim's medical examination and recommended that it be abandoned, stating that "the size
of the vaginal introitus has no bearing on a case of sexual assault, and therefore a test to ascertain the
laxity of the vaginal muscles, which is commonly referred to as the two-finger test, must not be
conducted." This test should not be used to draw inferences or observations like "habituated to sexual
activity," as this is against the law.

The committee placed a strong emphasis on the need for gender equality and also created a separate
Bill of Rights for women, which stated that "Every woman shall be entitled to respect for her life and
the integrity and security of her person." It is forbidden to use any kind of cruelty, indignity, or
degrading treatment or punishment against women.

CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT ACT 2013

The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013 went into effect on February 3rd, 2013, in accordance
with the Justice Verma Committee's findings, and it made significant modifications to the Indian
Penal Code of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872.
The definition of rape laws changed the most as a result of the act. The legislation had previously
only applied to penile-vaginal sex, but the recent revision replaced section 375 of the IPC and
expanded its definition to include anybody penetration as rape.
The amended section 375 of the IPC stated that a man is considered to have committed rape if "his
penis is inserted to any extent into the vagina, mouth, urethra, or anus of a woman, or she is forced to
do so with him or any other person; or any object or part of the body, other than the penis, is inserted
to any extent into the vagina, the urethra, or the anus of a woman, or she either with him or anybody
else.
Further clarification was added to the section that described consent as "an unequivocal voluntary
agreement when the woman communicates her willingness to participate in the specific sexual act by
words, gestures, or any other form of verbal or nonverbal communication."
The consent age was also increased from 16 to 18 years old.

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The definition of rape under section 376(2) has been broadened to encompass acts perpetrated by
military personnel stationed in a region under the control of the Central or a State Government. The
376 A was added so that if rape resulted in the victim's death or persistent vegetative state, the offender
would be subject to a severe punishment for at least twenty years, but it could also result in life in
prison, which would mean the remainder of the victim's natural life, or death. The addition of Section
376 B made it illegal for a husband to have sexual relations with his wife while they are separated.
This violation is now punishable by a 2-year sentence that can be extended to 7 years, as well as by a
fine. Section 376 C dealt with sexual activity by a person in power, such as a fiduciary, public
employee, manager of a jail or hospital, and made it criminal by up to life in prison and a fine in
addition to a 10-year sentence. The offence of gang rape was dealt with separately under section 376
D, which made it punished by harsh imprisonment for a term of 20 years that may extend to life
imprisonment as well as a fine. Section 376 E of the penal code established life in prison or death as
the punishment for repeat violations.
The government's adoption of the amendment was a historical move intended to reduce violence
against women. Despite the benefits of the amendment, it was also criticised for leaving out some
Justice Verma Committee recommendations, such as making rape and sexual assault laws gender-
neutral, barring politicians accused of sexual offences from running for office, and adding marital
rape to the list of crimes. The measure was enacted by the government without these urgent revisions.

THE CRIMINAL AMENDMENT ACT,2018

he Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 all saw revisions as a result of the Criminal Amendment Act, 2018.
Sections 166A, 228A, and 376 of the IPC were revised, and three new sections, 376AB, 376DA, and
376DB, were added. The period of punishment for rape has been increased under sub-section 1 of
section 376 to include a fine in addition to a jail sentence of at least 10 years with the possibility of
life in prison.
The addition of sub-section 3 further specifies the punishment for rape of a woman under the age of
sixteen, which includes strict imprisonment for a duration that must not be less than twenty years but
may extend to life in prison and is also punishable by a fine.

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In situations where a woman who is raped is under the age of 12, section 376AB has been added
following section 376A, which calls for strict imprisonment for a duration of not less than twenty
years, but which may extend to life imprisonment, with a fine, or with death.
A woman under the age of sixteen who is raped by one or more individuals who form a group or who
act in support of a common intention is punishable by life in prison and a fine under Section 376DA,
which was added after Section 376D and deals with the punishment for gang rape.
According to Section 376 DB, punishment for gang rape on woman under twelve years of age stating
that each of those persons shall be punished with imprisonment for life, and with fine, or with death.

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 CHAPTER IV
SURVEY OF GENERAL PUBLIC

We had circulated a google form in which we received 168 responses. We received mix responses
upon the questions we framed. We included following questions:

• Are you comfortable talking about rape/sex/sexual harassment?

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 • What causes rape?
• Do you think the current mechanism is enough to serve the justice to the victim?
• Do you think the school curriculum should include sex education?
• Do you think that sex education can help in preventing rape cases?
• Does harsher punishment for rape serve justice?
• If you were a victim, would you report the same?
• Do you think sexual harassment should have stricter punishment?
• Do you think that there is a conducive environment for women to complain about rape or
sexual harassment at home?
• Do you think people can talk about rape openly in India?
• Possible reason for not reporting rape cases to family or authority? (you can select multiple
options and can also write your views)

There were mixed responses from people, but majority believed that the harsher punishment can deter
the crime of rape. I hold a different view on this. I believe that people fail to understand that more the
punishment is harsher, more the chances od conviction are less. If the severity of punishment is high
and the likelihood of being convicted is reasonable in the eyes of the criminal, he will be deterred
from criminal activity. The likelihood of punishment is just as important as its severity, and this is an
important reason why increasing the maximum punishment alone is unlikely to be a significant
deterrent to rape. Certainty of Capital Punishment results in a perverse incentive for the rapists. The
rapist is better off killing the victim as then there is no one left to emphatically identify him. Every
rapist in this country has begun to think twice before leaving his rape victim alive. The victim is not
left alive to identify and bear witness against the assailant; the rapist may not even be convicted, forget
about being hanged for the crime.
The death sentence for the men who raped and tortured Nirbhaya, leading to her death in December
2012, is setting a dangerous precedent for future rape convictions. The prospect of a death sentence
is converting rapists into rapists and murderers. In a recent incident in the village of Aithpura, UP,
the rapists have deliberately poured acid on the victim to make even the identity of the victim a
question mark. One can easily guess that mutilating and killing victims is probably motivated by the
fact that these acts would result in the perpetrator being acquitted. Let us remember that in a criminal

18
case, our standards demand that the accused be found guilty “beyond all reasonable doubt”. The death
of the victim and the resultant absence of the victim’s testimony can in the hands of clever lawyers
(and let’s face it, rich upper caste rapists will undoubtedly be in a position to hire clever lawyers)
resulting in the guilty going scot free!
If the death penalty becomes a trend for rape convictions (already the perpetrators of the Shakti Mills
gang-rape have been awarded the death penalty early this year), the incidence of homicide will
escalate as every rapist will seek to snuff out his victim – nothing will be done to reduce the incidence
of rape itself. This is one among other unintended, undesirable consequences of such a precedent.
With a death penalty now dangling before every rapist, rapes and torture will become more gruesome
since a living victim is a living witness for the criminal pervert who will now go to any length to get
rid of the victim's body, so as to most effectively cover up his traces. The rapist will do his worst; he
will abuse and torture the victim in the most brutal of ways so as to extract as much sadistic pleasure
as possible, before getting rid of the body.

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 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION

Systemic changes are key to addressing the incidence of rape across the nation. Police patrolling and
installing more CCTVs particularly in deserted areas in cities, will increase surveillance effectiveness
in public places. Provision of indoor toilets in rural areas will automatically reduce risk levels for
possible victims. Currently, women have to go into distant and deserted fields where the rapists can
abduct and assault them relatively easily. Hotlines (already instituted in some places) for children and
victims of abuse must be available and accessible everywhere in the country; they must be more than
adequately equipped to respond to every distress call and successfully rescue victims. If distress calls
are not answered promptly and resolved, there is the danger of placing victims in greater peril, as their
abusers can potentially discover their attempt to appeal for help; they could then quell and silence
their victims viciously if not kill them altogether.
Finally, there is a need for campaigns to raise awareness among citizens about the savagery being
perpetuated around us, not just in order to work ourselves up into fits of moral indignation, but to
focus on practical steps and tools we can use to prevent, stall and minimize rape; we can use hotlines,
alert police, take photos and even shout for help to grab the attention of the people in proximity. Police
must be sensitized about and motivated to take every report of abuse seriously; currently even
complaints about harassment are routinely dismissed; this attitude must go. Children should be
educated early on in their lives, about their rights and the complaints mechanisms that are accessible
to them to appeal for help.
Over the years, rape has become a crime that the government only takes action on when the public is
outraged by a new and even more brutal case. Because of this, our society still doesn't give the victims
a place where they can feel safe and protected.
Even though there have been some good changes to the laws, there are still some things that need to
be looked at right away, such as marriage rape, gender neutrality in rape laws, etc., as stated by the
Justice Verma Committee.
There have been a number of cases that have shown how unclear and inconsistent court decisions can
be. Judgements like the Farooqui case throw back 38 years to the Mathura case and undo years of
work to change things. This shows how deeply sexism is ingrained in our society. The effects

20
the colonial way of thinking can still be seen in the way people judge today, and the position of
women in society hasn't changed.
There are a lot of things that don't get recorded because people are afraid of being shamed by society.
From the police office to the courts, victims are harassed at every turn. From the bad health care
system to the weak law enforcement system, every step of the victims' fight for justice adds to their
pain. The way we live in society is a big part of why it can be hard to get justice. So, the effect of the
laws will never be fully felt until there is change from within the society as well as changes to the
laws.
In India there still exists the discrepancies with the rape laws. Solution to this could be proper
implementation of the laws. Authorities should act according to law and should not indulge in corrupt
practices. Root cause of rape can be found in the issues that are deep rooted in the society like
patriarchy. To curb this problem, it is important to develop society first. It would be impossible to
resolve all such problems until the society is developed.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Space and Culture, India Journal

[Link]

International Journal of advanced research

[Link]

Mrinal Satish’s book Discretion, Discrimination and the Rule of Law

Hathras gang rape case

[Link]

Hyderabad Gang Rape case

[Link]

Criminal law amendment act

[Link]

Jstor- Nirbhaya case

[Link]

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