This article has been written by Ms. Akanksha Choudhary, a 3rd year BA.LLB (Hons.) Student from CMR University, School of Legal Studies, Bengaluru.

INTRODUCTION

One of the biggest barriers to gender equality is violence against women and children, which is a serious violation of human rights. Girls and young women are particularly vulnerable to many types of violence, which has a significant and lasting impact on their lives and stunts their ability to grow, lead, and succeed. Everyone in the modern world has experienced violence and the increase in crimes against women in one way or another. It illustrates the scope and seriousness of the crimes against women in recent years. The worldwide campaign to end violence against women is proof of this.

Living standards and lifestyle adjustments, unbalanced economic growth, social ethos changes, and a disregard for moral principles all contribute to a hostile attitude toward women, which leads to a rise in crimes against women. The structure is also unavoidably required in order for Indian women to live in an environment devoid of atrocities, denigration, and terrible crimes with respect, honour, dignity, freedom, and peace, as these occurrences are extremely concerning. Criminals who harm women are subject to a number of legal laws that provide for their punishment. Offenses Against Women are crimes that are expressly directed at women, despite the fact that the Indian Criminal Code provide protections for women who are victims of crimes like murder, robbery, and theft.

Rape is included as a crime against women in Sections 375 and 376 of the Indian Criminal Code from 1860.

Rape is the act of sexually assaulting a woman without her consent using coercion, fear, or other forms of force. A man commits rape if he: inserts his penis, to any extent, into a woman’s vagina, mouth, urethra, or anus, or forces her to do so with him or any other person; inserts, to any extent, any item or part of the body, other than the penis, into a woman’s vagina, urethra, or anus without her will/ without her consent. With her consent, when that consent was achieved by placing her life or the lives of those she loves about in peril. Whenever she gives her assent and the man is aware that she is not his husband but she mistakenly thinks that she is lawfully wed to another man.

If she is unable of understanding the nature or effects of what she is consenting to at the time of giving her assent due to mental impairment, intoxication, or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome substance, then he may do so with her assent. If she is under the age of eighteen, with or without her consent when she is unable to express her agreement.

Explanation: The labia majora is included in the term “vagina” for the purposes of this section. A woman is said to have provided her unambiguous consent when she communicates her desire to engage in a particular sexual act through words, gestures, or any other type of verbal or nonverbal communication. It is not acceptable to assume that a woman has given her agreement to sexual activity simply because she does not physically oppose the act of penetration. An operation or other medical procedure is not a rape. If the wife is older than fifteen, a man’s personal sexual interactions or activities with her do not amount to rape.

Punishment for rape (Section 376)

The consequences for the horrific crime of rape are laid out in Section 376. There are two subsections in this section:

A violation of Section 376(1) carries a mandatory minimum punishment of ten years in solitary confinement, which may be increased to life in prison, as well as a fine.

Explanation: A police officer, a public employee, a member of the armed forces, a relative, a teacher, or the victim’s guardian, or any other person mentioned in Section 376(2), will be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term that must not be less than ten years but may go as far as life imprisonment, which means they will be imprisoned for the rest of their natural lives, as well as with a fine, according to Section 376(2).

Modification made in response to the Nirbhaya Case in 2013

“Sexual intercourse” is no longer a necessary component of rape as a result of the Nirbhaya Case and subsequent changes to section 375 in 2013. The physical act necessary to prove the commission of the crime of rape could be oral sex, annal sex, or the insertion of any bodily part or object into any portion of a woman’s body. Currently, the age restriction for rape is 18. Prior to the modification, there were only six indications of rape; now there are seven, including “when she is unable to verbalize her assent.” The list of rape enhancements now includes new categories. Rape is often punished by a life sentence, and other categories of sexual offenses receive severe penalties as well. With this change, several new offense categories were added. Prior to this modification, these offenses were not covered by any explicit legislation.

Among these offenses are: Assault or Use of Criminal Force Against a Woman with the Intent to Outrage Her Modesty (Section 354) Sexual Harassment and Punishment for Sexual Harassment (Section 354)-A Assault or Use of Criminal Force Against a Woman with the Intent to Disrobe Her (Section 354)-C: Voyeurism (Section 354)-D: Stalking (Section 376-A).

Cases Laws

• Pradeep Kumar Dey and others v. State of West Bengal, 2015.

In this case, the husband and in-laws are accused of killing the victim by placing her atop a tire because the dowry was not paid. The brother of the deceased provided proof that the victim had been tortured in exchange for money. The brutal actions of the deceased’s in-laws were made clear by the fact that nobody was home when the deceased’s parents went to her house and by the fact that the dead body was left lying alone. Accordingly. The husband and his in-laws could be found guilty under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code, the court claims.

• Shanti v. State of Haryana.

• A woman’s death under unusual circumstances is defined as occurring by drowning, poisoning, due to bums, hanging, strangulation, etc. No matter if the death occurred by suicide or homicide, Section 304B will still apply if it happened within seven years of her marriage and was unnatural.

• Laxmi v. Union of India and Others.

Lakshmi was attacked with acid in this case when she was just 16 years old. This attack was sparked by a marriage proposal being declined. The Supreme Court revised its rules in response to this case. The regulations state that anyone under the age of majority should not be able to purchase acid. A photo ID was necessary for anyone intending to purchase acid.

• Rupan Deol Bajaj v. K.P.S. Gill. 

In this case, given the sequence of circumstances involving the overture, the words spoken, and the gestures made, the accused’s act of striking the I.A.S officer’s rear in front of an audience of society’s elite prima facie constituted the commission of an infraction under section 509 in this case.

• Aman Kumar v. State of Haryana.

The act of tugging a lady and removing her dress, followed by a request for sexual contact, would violate her modesty in this case. Even in the absence of any malicious intent, the awareness that her modesty is likely to be violated is enough to constitute the offense.

• Nirbhaya Rape Case.

In this incident, six men—one of them was a minor—brutally raped and tormented a 23-year-old female victim inside a moving bus. The woman was subjected to such intense torture that in addition to being raped, she also had her intestines torn from her body and suffered damage to her genitalia. She and her friend, who had been raped, were tossed nude off a moving bus in the dead of winter on Delhi’s highways while her buddy was left critically hurt and unconscious. One of them committed suicide while incarcerated, while the others were hanged. The teenage defendant was also given a three-year term in a reform centre.

CONCLUSION

The frequency of crime against women and victimization is increasing despite the numerous laws created to protect and safeguard the rights and interests of women. It implies that the rise in crimes against women in our society cannot be regulated and controlled by laws alone. For women to get the honour and respect they are due, there needs to be a social awakening and a change in the general public’s mentality. It’s time to treat women with the respect they deserve. A youth education effort that informs them of current social evils and how to eliminate them can lead to this awakening. Inculcating social ethics, morality, and values in all people as well as respecting and honouring women is known as “suppressing malicious eyes on women.