A Repugnant Suggestion By The Chief Justice Of India
As I was browsing through the news papers on the net, on Women's day, one of the articles on TOI did attract my attention in particular, the statement made by the Hon. Chief Justice of India, Justice K G Balakrishnan, that "due regard must be given to the wishes of a rape victim, if she wants to marry the rapist or give birth to a child conceived following the crime". I am in no way as qualified as the CJI, nor do I understand anything major about the law process, but as a concerned citizen of India, I am much perturbed by this statement. As far as I am concerned a rape is a rape, no matter what terms or adjectives are used, it is the basic violation of one's human right, be it man or woman and should not go unpunished, no matter what follows in the aftermath and the punishment must be very severe and precise because, rape is not just physical degradation, it's a mental torture, the scars or the imprint of which, seldom heal or disappear, during the life term of a person. The entire life of a person can be devastated by this savage act of lust, which in no way reduces the intensity of the crime, even if forgiving by the victim. The decision of the victim, to marry the perpetrator, may be entirely personal or because of the circumstances created by the perpetrator, and should not have any influence on the process of justice. In the case of the victim wanting to marry the perpetrator, the wheels of justice should not deviate, but hold on to the path of righteousness and the perpetrator punished, if found guilty, or else we'll have women being singled out and randomly raped and then married as per convenience. This will only encourage rape and accordingly the situation will not be ameliorated in any way but rather exacerbated in more ways than one. I do not know in what other context the CJI, could have made that statement but as a layman, I know that even in a marriage, forced sex is a rape, so the perpetrator marrying his victim, is surely no alternative for consideration. Given the history of rapes to the rate of convictions, which is very much abysmal in India, our authorities should be working towards giving justice to the brave women, who despite the taboo of being raped, on their lives, have made efforts to fight for justice, so that the perpetrators may be punished and other women may live in dignity. It is indeed very much disconcerting to note, that just a minuscule percent of the rapes cases in India are reported, out of which, the conviction rate is even more pathetic, if this is the apathy towards the rape victims, what are the rape victims suppose to do ? Fight the perpetrators against all odds by themselves or follow the repugnant suggestion of the CJI and forgive the perpetrator and marry him and live happily ever after ? Will that be possible ? In India we are a very conservative society, and most often than not, rapes are not reported, some are even made to marry the perpetrators, to get rid of the social stigma of being raped. Is that the way, the Indian women of the 21st century should be humiliated ? I am shocked that, not a single woman of substance, of the present era, nor the human right groups in India, have raised a voice of concern regarding this statement made by the CJI. We do have every right to ask "what due regard" was the CJI talking about ? As far as the crime is concerned, punishment should be nothing less than castration or a life sentence. If this punishment is horrifying, so is the crime. With the present attitude towards rape victims I wonder, if the victims of rape will ever see justice served or "Justice for all" the very foundation of our constitution, will remain, just a slogan. On women's day, our Indian women surely deserved, a lot better than what was offered by the CJI. Freddy Agnelo Fernandes -------------------------------------------------------- The content of this electronic communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and any others who are specifically authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or otherwise placing reliance on the contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful in certain legal jurisdictions. If you have received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately by responding to this email and then delete it from your system. -------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________