Law and justice in india fail us in rape cases

Rape is a heinous crime in the world we live in; it knows no boundaries of class or culture. In the recent past we have the misfortune of witnessing a momentous increase in number of ‘casual sexism’ in the most unpleasant, sordid and foul form in our so called civilised society. As pain and agony continue to linger when we recall the horrific rape and plight of Nirbhaya, a ‘rarest of the rare’ rape, today history repeats itself in the ugliest and ghastly possible manner in at the cost of an 8-year-old girl’s life in Kathua, yet another 11-year-old girl in Surat who was raped and murdered by sustaining 80 injury marks and rape of a 12-year-old specially-abled girl in west Delhi, so on and so forth.

It is disgusting to know that rape, especially ‘rape of little children’ is happening every day, amidst the enactment of the new law in 2013, this ‘new law’ has proved to be incapable of stopping gruesome incidents of rape. It is therefore apparent that both law and justice had been a failure in India.

Rape laws across the globe are stringent:  The sentence for rape in Saudi Arabia is a public flogging, lashing and beheading after administering the rapist with a sedative. The punishment for rape in China is death and in some cases - castration is also used, when taken as a whole, it is also laudable for its swiftness in rendering speedy justice. In North Korea, the dictatorship sentences rapists to death by firing squad whereas in Afghanistan, convicted rapists are shot in the head within 4 days or hanged to death depending on the judgement handed out by the courts.

In Egypt, rapists are hanged. Rapists in Iran are sentenced to death, sometimes by hanging but sometimes allegedly also by stoning. The usual sentence for a convicted rapist in the United States of America depends on whether the trial falls under state or federal law. In cases under federal law, the punishments can range from a few years to imprisonment for the entirety of the rapist's life span. The French are uncompromising about their rape laws. They hand out 15 year sentences for rape, which can be extended to 30 or life imprisonment depending on the extent of damage and brutality.

However, in India even after the ‘Anti Rape Bill of April 2013,’ rapists are liable to life imprisonment (which is actually 14 years), imprisonment for entire life and even the death sentence only in the ‘rarest of rare cases.’ Regrettably almost every reported rape case in the recent past can be regarded as ‘rarest of the rare case’ as such, the rapists need to be sentenced to death, but to our shock and as a blot from the blue, these vicious rapists in our country are hailed instead of being jailed.

Although ‘Fast Track Court’ systems exist, it has let the victim, the victim’s family and the nation at large down. It is imprudent to know that even with the establishments of special courts and enactments of ‘new laws,’ nothing on the ground has changed; in fact it has become worse day by day - this proves that our laws are not stringent enough. Time after time, justice is delayed and justice is denied.

To add fuel to the fire, in a recent case, the Apex Court acquitted a man who was convicted by the High Court for committing rape. The Court said that even though the woman said ‘no’ and the man still went ahead and forced himself upon her, it was a ‘feeble no’ from the woman. The Apex Court, decided not to allow an appeal against the ‘feeble no’ verdict. It is evident that there is a sense of backlash and reluctance on the part of the courts as they do not want to implement the more progressive law that was passed in 2013.

 Rape is epidemic in India, and India’s rape crisis is increasing and worsening day by day - it is abysmal that there is not a single National Registry for Sex Offenders - the pillars of the Constitution must bear in mind that ‘rape is an act that cannot be forgotten with silence’ and child rapists don't deserve a second chance since they behave worse than an animal, there is a pressing need to implement more stringent laws for the crime of rape, they would have no other option but to take law in their hands and crucify barbaric rapists.