Rape Law In INDIA – Sexual Offence Act.

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Rape Law In INDIA
Rape Law In INDIA

WHAT IS RAPE

Under the Sexual Offence Act, 2003, which comes into force in April 2004, rape in England and Wales was redefined from non-consensual vaginal anal intercourses, and is now defined as non-consensual penile penetration of the vagina, onus or mouth of another person. The changes also made rape punishable with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Although a woman who forces a man to have sex cannot be prosecuted for rape under English law, if she helps a man commit a rape she can be prosecuted for the crime.

SEXUAL OFFENCE ACT, 2003 STATES AS FOLLOWS

Rape

1)- A person (A)- commits an offence if-

a)- he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person B)- with his penis (b)- B does not consent to the penetration, and (c)- A does not reasonably believe that B consents.

2)- whether a belief is reasonable is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including any steps A has taken to ascertain whether B consent.

Rape means unlawful intercourse done by a man with a woman without her valid consent. ( section- 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860

A man is said to commit “rape” if he has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the six following descriptions-

  1. Against her will.
  2. Without her consent.
  3. With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or of hurt.
  4. With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is r believes herself to be lawfully married.
  5. With her consent, when at the time of giving such consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome substances, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that which she gives consent
  6. With or without consent, when she is under 16 year of age.

Explanation– penetration is sufficient to constitutes the sexual intercourses necessary to the offences of rape.

Exception– sexual intercourses by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15years of age, is not rape.

AMENDMENT TO RAPE LAWS IN 1983 was made to address mainly 3 issues-

  1. minimum punishment in rape cases ( IPC Section-376 subsection- 1)
  2. special causes of rape ( IPC section- 376 sub-section- 2a-g & A)
  3. Marital rape-(IPC Section- 376A)
  4. Abuse of official power ( IPC section- 376,B,C,D )

MINIMUM PUNISHMENT

Section- 376 subsection- 1 of IPC

1)- whoever, except in the cases provided for by sub-section (2), commits rape shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than 7 years but which may be for life or for a term which may extend to 10 years and shall also be liable to fine or for a term which may extend to 10years and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 2 years or with fine or with both,

SPECIAL PUNISHMENT

Rape of a girl who is below 12 years of age rape knowing the woman to be pregnant, gang rape and custodial rape definitions, specific punishment in some of these cases,

Under 376(2)(f).

Punishment

Rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 10 years but which may be for life and shall also be liable to fine ;

Provided that the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment of either description for a term of less than 10 years.

RAPE OF WOMAN, KNOWING HER TO BE PREGNANT (section-376 subsection- 2-e)-

PUNISHMENT

Rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may be for life and shall also be liable to fine;

Provided that the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment of either description for a term of less than 10 years.

Exemption from the burden of proof of the victim states in court that she did not consent, then the court shall presume that she didn’t consent and the burden of proving consent shall shift to the accused.

GANGED RAPE– (section-376 sub sec-2g)

Thus even if five men force a woman into having sexual intercourses with only one of them, the remaining four will also be considered to have committed rape under this law.

PUNISHMENT

Rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 10years but which may be for life and shall be liable to fine provided that the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment. Impose a sentence of imprisonment of either description for a term of less than 10 years.

CUSTODIAL RAPE– (376 subsection- 2 a,b, c,d)

Rape committed on women in their or their subordinates custody by

A)- police officer

1)- within the limits of the police station to which he is appointed ;

2)- in the premises of any station houses whether or not situated in the police station too, which he is appointed; or

3)- on a women in his custody or in the custody of a police officer subordinates to him;

B)- public servant

C)- management or the staff of a jail, remand home or other place of custody or a women’s or children’s institute

D)- management or on the staff of a hospital

PUNISHMENT

Rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may be for life and shall also be liable to fine.

CONCLUSION

According to statistics, a woman is raped in India every 20 minutes. India was declared the most dangerous country in the world for women due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced to slave labour in 2018.

It took 7 years to convict the Nirbhaya to get justice.

There are more than 128,000 cases were pending in courts by the end of 2017.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2018 annual report,33,356 rape cases were reported across India n 2018.out of these 31.320 were committed by someone known to the victim (93.9% of the cases)