“

1stMUDDASERI
ES,
2018”

Nameoft
heAut
hor : MomiBai
shya

Nameoft
heCo-
Aut
hor : Puj
aKumar
iKhakhol
ia

Ti
tl
eoft
heAr
ti
cle : “
WomenSaf
etyi
nPr
esentEr
a”

Sub-
Art
icl
e : Ar
“ eRapeLawsObsol
etei
n
I
ndi
a”

YearofSt
udy&Cour
se : BA,
LLB(
Hons.
)&SecondYear

NameandAddr
essoft
heI
nst
it
uti
on:

NEFLAW COLLEGE

GMCHost
elRoad,
AnandaNagar
,Chr
ist
ianBast
i,Guwahat
i,

Assam-781005

Cont :8135062567,
actNumber 8471919727

Emai
lpkumar
: ikhakhol
ia@gmai
l.
com ,
www.
momi
bai
shya579@gmai
l.
com
 “
1stMUDDASERI
ES,
2018”

SYMPOSI
UM ON
“
WOMENSAFETYINTHEPRESENTERA”

“
RAPE,
NOTADIRTYSECRET,
BUTACOGNIZABLEOFFENCE”
ARERAPELAWSOBSOLETEI
NINDIA?

Theter
m rape ori
ginat
esfrom t
he 
Lati
n t
erm“rapere”
 whi
chmeans‘tosnat
ch,
t
ogr
ab,tocarr
yof f
’.Thehistor
yofRapelawsinIndiabeginswit
htheenactmentof
t
heI
ndi
anPenal Code(IPC)in1860(45of1860)coveredunderSect
ion375and376.

Section375oftheIndianPenalCodegivesanel aborati
vedefini
ti
onofr ape.
A man i ssaidto commitr ape,ifhepenetrat
eshi speni s;inser
tsanyobj ect
;
manipulat
eanypartofthebodyofawoman;appl i
eshismout htothevagina,anus,
uret
hraofawomanormakeshert odosowithhim oranyotherperson.Theconsent
orwil
lisgivent
hesoulpri
ori
tyunderthef
oll
owingcircumstances.

Secti
on376ofTheI ndi
anPenalCode,1860dealswiththelawsrelati
ngtothe
punishmentf orrape.ThePenaltyforrapei
sst atedunderSecti
on376( A-E)ofthe
respecti
ve Code.Ri gorous i
mpri
sonment,i
mpr isonmentforlif
e,fine and death
penaltyareseenassomeoft hestat
eswayofsanct i
onsforthecommi ssionofsuch
cognizabl
e,non-bail
able,t
ri
abl
eoffence.

I
nv i
ewoft her ecommendat ionsoftheLawCommi ssionandt hegrowing
protestfrom thegener alpublici
nresponsetogang- r
apeofaDel higir
li.
e.NIRVAYA
casei nDecember2012, t
heI ndi
anParli
amentintroducedtheCriminalLaw
(Amendment )Bil
l,2013, whichwaspassedbybot hthehousesinMar chand
receivedPresident'
sassenti nApr i
l2013.I
tprovidesforamendmentofI PC, I
EA,and
CodeofCr i
minal Procedure,1973onl awsrelat
edt osexualoff
encesorr ape.

Themosti mpor
tantchangethathasbeenmadei sthechangeindefini
ti
on
of r
ape underIPC.Alt
hough the Ordi
nance soughtt o change t
he wor
d rape t
o
“sexualassaul
t”i
ntheActtheword'r
ape'hasbeenr et
ainedinSecti
on375,andwas
extendedtoincl
udeact
sinadditi
ontovaginal
penetrat
ion.

Anewsect i
on,376Ahasbeenaddedwhi chstatesthatifapersoncommi tti
ng
theoffenceofsexualassaul
t,"
inf
li
ctsani njurywhichcausesthedeat hoftheperson
orcausest hepersontobei na persistentvegetati
vestate,shal
lbepuni shedwith
ri
gorousi mpr
isonmentf oraterm whi chshal lnotbel essthant wentyy ear
s,but
whichmayext endtoi mpri
sonmentf orl i
fe,whichshallmeant heremainderofthat
 “
1stMUDDASERI
ES,
2018”

person’snat urall i
fe,orwi t
hdeat h."Incaseof" gangr ape",underSect ion376D
persons involved r egardl
ess oft heirgendershal lbe puni shed wi t
hr i
gorous
i
mpr isonmentf orat erm whichshal lnotbel esst hant went yy ears,butwhi chmay
extendtol i
feandshal lpaycompensat i
ont othev ictim whichshal lber easonabl eto
meett hemedi calexpensesandr ehabi l
it
at i
onoft hev i
cti
m.Theageofconsenti n
Indi
ahasbeeni ncreasedt o18y ears, whichmeansanysexualact i
vityir
respect i
veof
presenceofconsentwi t
hawomanbel owt heageof18wi l
lconst it
ute statutoryrape.
Inthecur rentamendment ,punishmentf orsex uali nter
coursei scompr ehendedt o
“byaper soni naut hor i
ty”(
imprisonmentf ornotl esst han2y ear sext endingt oseven
yearswi thfine-cogni zabl
eatt heopt i
onoft hev icti
m- bai
lable,t r
iablebycour tof
session)underSect ion376C. A pr ov i
sionof“ puni shmentf orr epeatof fenders”is
addedwi t
hi mpr isonmentf orlife( remai nderoft hatper son’snat urallife,orwi t
h
death).

AsperNATIONALCRI MERECORDBUREAU,90women’
sar
erapedev er
yday
,
i
.e.
i
neverytwent
y-t
womi nut
esagirli
slef
ttoal i
vi
ngcor
pseandoffencesare
commi
tt
edincl
udessomeoneknown.

Presentl
y,theCabi nethasmader apel aw t ougher.Theor dinancepassed
i
ncludes mi ni
mum puni shmentf ort en y earsf orrape,mi nimum t went yyears
ri
gorousi mpri
sonmentandmaxi mum deat hpenal tyorli
feimprisonmentf orraping
agirlbelowt welv
ey ears,fi
nei mposedshal lbej ustandl i
abl
et omeett hemedi cal
expenseandr ehabili
tat
ionofthev ict
im, teny earsofr i
gorousimpr i
sonmentf orrape
commi ttedbyapol i
ceof fi
cer
,investi
gationinr apecasest obecompl etedwithi
nt wo
mont hs,noantici
patorybailcanbegr antedt oaper sonaccusedofr apeofgirl
sof
agelesst han16y ear
s,appealsinrapecasest obedi sposedwithinsixmont hs.

IfI
ndi
aisser
iousaboutal
l
owi
ngsubst
ant
ivet
oemer
gewi
thr
egar
dtor
ape,
I
ndi
ahastot
akei
ntoaccountt
hat
,

Fi
rst
ly,
onl
y30%oft
her
apesar
erepor
tedand70%gounr
epor
ted.

Secondl
y,166A oft he I
PC are meantexcl
usivel
yforthose def
aul
ti
ng
pol
icemenwhodonotl odgeFIR’sshoul
dgetapuni shmentordismi
ssedfr
om
ser
v i
ceinmostofthest
ates.

Thir
dly
, i
tisnotpredat
oryaloneanditi
sacrimeofpassi
on,f
ixat
ionandf
eti
sh
ri
sk centri
ng whatt he psychol
ogist
s have sai
d.Mostr api
sts admit
-“Iv i
ew
pornography,drugsandcommi trape”

Fourt
hly
,deathpenal
tydoesnotactasadet
err
entf
orr
apeasmostofthe
rapecasesar ebrushedunderthecarpetbyt
hehomemembersasamatterof
pressureandprest
ige.
 “
1stMUDDASERI
ES,
2018”

I
nI ndia,wehavear egr
ettabletendencytotreatlawsasmer esuggesti
ons,
l
ikewor thyadv icefr
om agr andmot her-
tobef oll
owedi nt heoryandi gnor
edin
practi
ce.Ifthelaw suit
souri nterest
s,wef oll
ow i
t.Ifnot,t
herear emanyway sof
workingourwayar oundit.But,Suretyofpunishment,banni
nghat espeechesamong
thepeoplef oreachother,alovebasedsoci etywi
threspecttohumani tycanhelpi
n
avoidi
ngr apetoanextent.