WOMEN – 2011 - Indian Social Institute

Woman gangraped in moving vehicle in Sikar
JAIPUR: A woman was allegedly gangraped in a moving vehicle in Sikar district on Wednesday night. In
an FIR lodged by the victim at the Patan police station on Thursday, the woman alleged that four persons
abducted her, along with her husband, from their house on Wednesday night and raped her while her
husband was thrown out of the jeep on the way. In the FIR, she has identified the four accused as Bhiron
Singh, Shakti Singh, Rakesh Singh and Chindu. The victim said the accused came called her husband
out of their hut. After that, they forcibly put into a jeep and drove away. On the way, they gagged and
blindfolded her and then threw her husband out. The four then took turns to rape her. They later dumped
the woman at a deserted spot. "They tied the hands of victim's husband and threw him out of a jeep.
Later, the woman was taken to an isolated place and raped in the vehicle," the police said. Police have
arrested two of the four accused. Search is on for the remaining two. (TOI, 14/01/2011)
‘Need to treat forcible sex with wife as rape’
The government on Thursday conveyed to the Supreme Court the necessity to treat forcible sexual
intercourse by a man with his wife as rape, saying even the Law Commission has recommended the
“change” in law. Currently, it does not constitute rape if a man has sexual intercourse with his wife who is
aged over 15. “Worldwide in law a man can rape his wife even if she is an adult. But here, it becomes an
offence only if the woman who is his wife is aged below 15 years. This certainly requires amendment and
the Law Commission has also recommended change,” Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising said
before a bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma. Jaising was referring to the various
anomalies in statutes regarding the “age of childhood” for girls and a lack of clarity on the legal status of
child marriages. The hearing was based on a petition by National Commission for Women highlighting the
various anomalies in different laws which were defeating the very purpose of banning child marriages
under the Child Marriage Restraint Act. “As the law stands today, child marriages are neither void nor
voidable. There should be uniformity in law as regards the age of childhood,” Jaising said. Citing
examples, she said though the Child Marriage Act prevents marriage of girls below 18 years, Section 11
of the Hindu Marriage Act does not declare a marriage void if the girl is below 18. In fact, Section 13 of
the Hindu Marriage Act says that if a marriage is contracted with a girl below 15 and not repudiated by her
till she reaches the age of 18, then the marriage can only be terminated through divorce. The bench
asked the government to address the concerns and shortcomings in law at preventing child marriages.
(IE, 14/01/2011)
SC to hear plea for probe on Friday
Jailed after being raped, the Banda victim, who is waging a battle against her alleged rapist BSP MLA
Purushottam Dwivedi and the State police, saw help coming from the most unexpected quarters with
noted lawyer Harish Salve on Monday requesting the Supreme Court to hold a judicial probe into the
incident. An apex bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia will hear Salve’s application on Friday. The
order was made by a Bench comprising the CJI, Justices Aftab Alam and KS Radhakrishnan during
hearing of a PIL filed by Prakash Singh on implementation of police reforms laid down by a historic
decision of the court in 2006. Senior advocate Harish Salve, who made a mention before the Bench with
a two-page application, requested an urgent intervention by the court into the matter, which clearly was
an aberration on the part of police functioning. The Dalit girl was put in prison for charge of theft, which
violated the procedure contained in the rulebook. Moreover, being a minor, the police should proceed
against her under the Juvenile Justice Act by keeping her at a juvenile home. Faced with pressure from
all quarters, the police finally decided to release the victim giving her a clean chit. She spent over a month
in jail while her alleged rapist was allowed to roam free. Salve demanded an inquiry into the incident by
the District Judge, Allahabad and suggested the report to be submitted to the Supreme Court within a
week. Pressing for an urgent intervention, the application prepared by Salve stated, “An investigation into
this incident would give this court valuable insight into where the system has failed and the kind of
directions that would be necessary to ensure that if what is alleged in the news reports is true, such
incidents do not repeat themselves.” The apex court decided to entertain the application since the PIL
pointed out that implementation of police reforms was lacking on many counts. With police reforms aimed
to insulate police from all kinds of political interference and provide them effective working conditions,
secure tenure, the Bench saw the concern expressed about the minor victim being possibly harassed for
daring to point fingers at the accused, a high-profile politician. (Pioneer, 18/01/2011)