SEXUAL HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS A legal and ... - The ICHRP

charged as an offence. It stated that alteration to the definition of rape by a process of judicial
interpretation, could result in confusion in the minds of the prosecuting agency and the courts
and therefore desisted form doing so. As noted above, the Delhi High Court has urged that
the government of India implement the report of the Law Commission.
In India, the Goa Children’s Act 2003 is the first to include the idea of graded sexual assault
(see discussion above).
In Bangladesh, the Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act 2000
introduces the offence of “sexual oppression” which is defined as, “any person with a view to
illegally satisfying his sexual lust by any of his organ or matter touches genital organ or any
part of body if a woman or child or violates her modesty such act of that person shall
constitute offence of sexual oppression.” A minimum rigorous imprisonment term of 3 years
which may extend to 10 years and a fine are prescribed as punishment.
In Sri Lanka Section 365B of the Penal Code criminalises “grave sexual abuse”, an act of
sexual gratification by the use of one’s genitals or any other part of one’s or another’s body
or any instrument or any orifice, which does not amount to rape under Section 363, and is
done without the consent of the other person, with the consent of the person obtained
coercively or when the other person was of unsound mind or intoxicated. Punishment is
prescribed as rigorous imprisonment up to 20 years and compensation as determined by court
to the injured person. Where the abuse is committed against any person below 18 years of age
the punishment shall be rigorous imprisonment between 7 and 20 years. 515
5.7 Hate crimes (both state sanctioned and state excused)
In Bangladesh and India there have been increasing incidents of acid attacks on women. The
frequency of the incidents led to the enactment of the Acid-Offences Prevention Act, 2002 516
in Bangladesh with a view to “make provisions to prevent acid-offences strictly.” The Act
imposes severe penalties, including the death penalty or rigorous life imprisonment with a
fine of one lakh rupees for causing death by throwing acid or bodily injury where, “his/her
sight or ear is damaged fully or partly or face or breast or sexual organ is disfigured or
damaged.” 517 For bodily injury where a joint/member of the body is disfigured, damaged or
injured, a minimum punishment of seven years that may extend to and a fine of 50,000 taka is
prescribed. 518 Punishments for throwing or attempting to throw acid even where there is no
injury are prescribed and persons abetting any of these offences are punishable to the same
extent. 519
515 Section 365B, Penal Code, 1883 (Sri Lanka)
516 Act II of 2002. The English version of this statute available to the authors is an unofficial translation obtained
from the website of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) at
http://www.apwld.org/pdf/acidoffences2002.pdf. The unofficial translation was cross- checked with local
lawyers in Bangladesh who noted that the translation was missing the complete Section 5(b) which reads as
follows: “Any part or joint of his/her body is disfigured or damaged or injured, he shall be punished with,
imprisonment for either description that may extend to fourteen years but not less than seven years of rigorous
imprisonment and in addition he will also be punished with fine not exceeding 50 thousand taka.”
517 Section 5, Acid-Offences Prevention Act, 2002 (Bangladesh)
518 Ibid.
519 Sections 6 and 7, ibid.
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