R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital junior doctors during their sit-in protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor, in Kolkata, on August 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Amid national outrage over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata and the sexual abuse of two kindergarten girls in Badlapur, Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken twice in 10 days on crimes against women. In his 78th Independence Day address, Mr. Modi said that crimes against women should be investigated without any delay, and that it was important to instill fear among culprits of committing such crimes. “There should be a wide discussion about the criminals who get punished so that even those who commit such sins fear the consequences including hanging to death. I feel that it is very important to create this fear,” he said. Then, while addressing the Lakhpati Didi Sammelan in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, on Sunday, Mr. Modi said that committing a crime against women was “an unpardonable sin”, adding that the guilty should not be spared.
Incidents and changes to law
Protests erupted after a postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead after 36 hours of duty at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Hospital on August 9. Forensic reports stated that she had been raped. Furious at persistently high level of sexual violence despite reforms in the criminal justice system, women gathered on streets across India. The Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of probe of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Later, the Supreme Court took suo motto cognisance of the case.
Following the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi in December 2012, the government brought about several changes in the criminal justice system. The definition of rape was widened to include non-penetrative acts, fast-track courts were set up, and the age threshold was reduced so that even 16-year-olds could be tried as adults in sexual offences.
However, little seems to have changed. According to a government report, on average, one woman reported a rape every 15 minutes across the country in 2018. There were more than 31,000 reported rapes in 2022, the latest year for which data are available. Around the time of the 2012 Delhi case, data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed that there were 25,000 recorded rapes a year across India.
A collective failure
That the annual number of rapes is largely above 30,000 is not just a cause for concern, but also a reflection on the four components of the criminal justice system: the police, the prosecution, the courts, and the prisons. It is a collective failure of these four components that there is no fear of punishment in the minds of people who commit these heinous crimes. The police, which are the investigative agency, have to ensure that there are no infirmities in the investigation procedure. For this, the first step is to preserve the scene of crime so that experts can gather evidence in the best possible manner. A botched job in the early stages of investigation has serious ramifications and often leads to acquittal. A botched job also gives some rapists the confidence that they can get away with their crime. Early-stage botching begins with delay in the registration of the crime. There was a delay of 14 hours in registering an FIR in the Kolkata case. In the Badlapur sexual abuse case too, the police sprung to action only after public outrage. The Bombay High Court slammed the police for the delay in filing the FIR and recording statements.
After the registration of the FIR, proper investigation needs to be done. This includes collection of vital evidence from the scene of crime. The role of the investigators, therefore, is of paramount importance. Police being a state subject, the State governments have a bigger role to play in ensuring delivery of timely and fair justice. Why should all highly publicised cases be transferred to the CBI after an outcry by the media and the public? Lack of confidence in state investigative agencies is a major cause for concern.
If the investigation is improper, the prosecution finds it difficult to pursue the case in a court of law. This creates problems in trials, appeals, and every step of legal proceedings, often ending in rapists getting away. As per the NCRB data, conviction rates for rapes were 27%-28% from 2018 to 2022. This means that almost 70% of rape cases in India end in acquittal. But even in cases where the prosecution manages to get conviction, inordinate delays in execution of the sentence makes delivery of justice a long process. In the 2012 Delhi case, even though the fast-track court which tried the case held the accused guilty of gang rape and murder in less than a year, the guilty were hanged after seven years.
Revamped justice system
In the revamped criminal justice system of India, forensic examination has been made mandatory in cases with offences that are punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more, which are categorised under heinous offences. The maximum punishment for rape in India is life imprisonment and death penalty in the case of the victim being below 12 years of age. The forensic examination is aimed at enhancing the criminal investigation by ensuring that a team of experts conduct an on-site examination and gather evidence. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2024, which has replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, also makes it mandatory to video-tape the forensic examination. The revamped criminal justice system of the country has also fixed timelines for enforcement agencies to take cognisance of complaints and mercy petitions, for filing of charge sheets and e-FIR for women, along with timelines for hearings to address contemporary challenges.
But these legal reforms will yield the desired results only when the investigating agency does its job thoroughly. Often, failure in preliminary investigation and incomplete or delayed collection of forensic evidence leads to botched-up investigations that ultimately make it more difficult for the victim to get justice. It is important that the investigating agency preserves the scene of crime and collects forensic evidence to build a watertight case so that the accused persons get convicted. It is equally important to ensure that the appellate courts, such as the High Court and the Supreme Court, dispose of the appeals quickly and in a time-bound manner for sentences to be executed.
These steps may not prevent atrocities against women, but they will at least instill the fear of consequences in the minds of the perpetrators, and ensure that the victims and their families don’t have to wait endlessly for delivery of justice.
Rakesh Goswami is Professor of Journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi
