Indian Laws Relating to Rape: A Critical Analysis
By Tajmul Karim, Research Scholar, Bankura University, West Bengal.
Abstract
Rape is one type of illegal sexual relationship that is not only illegal but also it is without the consent of the woman. It is the only crime, where the victim is ostracized socially, degraded morally, and achieves a dark spot on her dignity and character instead of getting sympathy from society. In the case of Rafiq v. State of U.P., Justice Krishna Iyer rightly said, “When a woman is ravished what is inflicted is not merely physical injury, but the deep sense of some deathless shame. Judicial response to human rights cannot be blunted by legal bigotry.”
Overall, in modern society including India, stringent anti-rape laws have been made to punish the offender. In Canada and Arabian Countries, Rape is treated as the most heinous crime, and the offender is awarded by a jury or court the capital punishment. In India, the punishment is rigorous imprisonment. In cases of rape and murder, the Supreme Court awards the death sentence according to the depth of the offence in rarest cases like the Dhananjoy Chatterjee case in West Bengal. In India, some special laws have been created to safeguard women. But the crimes like rape are not going down. The existing Laws in India are inadequate to prevent crimes like rape.
Hence, the study’s objective is to know about the law relating to rape in India as well as to give some remedial measures to fill the lacuna of the existing anti-rape laws in India.
Keywords - Rape, Victims, India, Lacuna, Remedies.
