‘Marital rape to be treated at par with other rape cases’
5 March 2014 11:55 PM GMT
A victim of marital sex abuse cannot be discriminated against only because she is the wife of the offender and has to be treated as any other rape victim, a Delhi court has observed. The judgement was made, while denying bail to a man accused of sodomising his pregnant wife.
The court said though the legislature is yet to take a ‘serious note’ of rampant cases of marital sexual abuse, which the women in the country suffer silently, it does not mean that ‘a battered wife, who has been sexually abused and has invoked the legal system, is not entitled to any state assistance which is already available to other victims of rape’.
Additional sessions judge Kamini Lau directed the Delhi government to take responsibility and take care of the woman, a resident of Keshav Puram here. The victim has lodged a case against her husband for allegedly forcing her to establish sexual relations with him ‘against the order of the nature’ after consuming alcohol even when she was pregnant.
‘She is the responsibility of the State and is required to be taken care of just as any other victim of aggravated sexual assault and abuse and the State cannot abdicate its responsibility and she cannot be discriminated only because she happens to be the wife of the sexual aggressor,’ the court said.
While refusing to grant bail to the man, the court noted that the extent of his mental perversity was demonstrated from the fact that he did not even spare his nine-year-old son. The father ‘polluted the mind’ of the child by boasting to him about the manner in which he used to make sexual relations ‘against the order of nature’ with the victim.
‘How can such a person be treated with leniency and especially when his wife who has suffered this torture for last more than nine years is in an advance stage of pregnancy?
‘Allegations made against him are serious. At this stage, his release is neither advisable nor warranted. Merely because the victim now wants the accused to be out does not mean that the court is obligated to oblige. The application for grant of bail is hereby dismissed,’ the judge said.
During the hearing on bail, the woman had come to the court pleading that her husband should be released as she was in a state of destitution being totally dependent upon him and there was nobody to look after her.
The court, however, said the woman was present before it despite her advance stage of pregnancy along with the advocate for the accused and this showed that she was under extreme pressure of her in-laws with whom she was staying.
It also pulled up the police for invoking Section 498A (husband or his relative subjecting woman to cruelty) of the IPC on the man even though there were specific allegations that he used to harass and mistreat her since the time they got married.
The court also expressed displeasure over the manner in which the deputy commissioner of police (north west Delhi) was showing ‘total lack of concern regarding court cases’.
The court directed the joint commissioner of police (Range) to intervene and ensure that an inquiry relating to psychological assessment and financial destitution of the victim is conducted and also sent a copy of its order to the commissioner of police for information and appropriate action.
The court said though the legislature is yet to take a ‘serious note’ of rampant cases of marital sexual abuse, which the women in the country suffer silently, it does not mean that ‘a battered wife, who has been sexually abused and has invoked the legal system, is not entitled to any state assistance which is already available to other victims of rape’.
Additional sessions judge Kamini Lau directed the Delhi government to take responsibility and take care of the woman, a resident of Keshav Puram here. The victim has lodged a case against her husband for allegedly forcing her to establish sexual relations with him ‘against the order of the nature’ after consuming alcohol even when she was pregnant.
‘She is the responsibility of the State and is required to be taken care of just as any other victim of aggravated sexual assault and abuse and the State cannot abdicate its responsibility and she cannot be discriminated only because she happens to be the wife of the sexual aggressor,’ the court said.
While refusing to grant bail to the man, the court noted that the extent of his mental perversity was demonstrated from the fact that he did not even spare his nine-year-old son. The father ‘polluted the mind’ of the child by boasting to him about the manner in which he used to make sexual relations ‘against the order of nature’ with the victim.
‘How can such a person be treated with leniency and especially when his wife who has suffered this torture for last more than nine years is in an advance stage of pregnancy?
‘Allegations made against him are serious. At this stage, his release is neither advisable nor warranted. Merely because the victim now wants the accused to be out does not mean that the court is obligated to oblige. The application for grant of bail is hereby dismissed,’ the judge said.
During the hearing on bail, the woman had come to the court pleading that her husband should be released as she was in a state of destitution being totally dependent upon him and there was nobody to look after her.
The court, however, said the woman was present before it despite her advance stage of pregnancy along with the advocate for the accused and this showed that she was under extreme pressure of her in-laws with whom she was staying.
It also pulled up the police for invoking Section 498A (husband or his relative subjecting woman to cruelty) of the IPC on the man even though there were specific allegations that he used to harass and mistreat her since the time they got married.
The court also expressed displeasure over the manner in which the deputy commissioner of police (north west Delhi) was showing ‘total lack of concern regarding court cases’.
The court directed the joint commissioner of police (Range) to intervene and ensure that an inquiry relating to psychological assessment and financial destitution of the victim is conducted and also sent a copy of its order to the commissioner of police for information and appropriate action.
Next Story
