Chennai: Sexual assault victims still await verdict in their cases

CHENNAI: The timely verdict in Hasini’s case was surely cheered by many, but it is shocking to know the number of victims awaiting just a glimpse of justice. In Chengalpet court alone, where Hasini’s verdict was delivered, at least 328 sexual assault victims are awaiting trial.

The Prevention of Children from Sexual Offenses act Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012 mandates the trial of child rape cases to be completed within a year, but victims say it takes more than 365 days for the first hearing itself.

According to Chengalpet Mahila court statistics, 75 child rape cases are pending, with the oldest one registered in 2013 and 200 cases are in First Information Report (FIR) stage. In city limits, 78 cases are pending at the Chennai mahila court and 150 are in FIR stage.

Advocate V Kannadasan, who assisted the prosecution in Hasini's case, while explaining the cause of the delay, said, “First, it is a difficult task to bring the victim undergoing trauma to confront in the open court while the memories of the horror are fresh in her mind. Also, the legal procedures are carried out at a snail’s pace.” According to legal procedures, the case enters court after an FIR is filed and police conduct investigations and gather eyewitness before filing a charge sheet. That itself takes ages to complete, victims rue.

Many a time, the victims are left in a fix as eyewitnesses flee the scene after being bribed and threatened in the court corridors. Advocates said mostly, public prosecutors are behind the scene.

In one instance, the prosecutor threatened eyewitness in front of the 11-year-old victim. It has been over two years since the parents of the victim have been running from pillar to post for gathering evidences.  At the end of it, the victims either turn hostile or give up to put an end to the traumatic experience.

Kannadasan stressed on the need for victim protection through child friendly deposition rooms, which are absent in all the courts except for the one in Chennai. “Supreme court insists on day-to-day trial for speedy justice as against the current scenario due to ‘complications’ in the legal system,” he said.

Rape victims go through torture in mahila courts

Did you have a relationship with the boy? This is totally not true. Utter fantasy right? Was it done with your consent? This is not even a pinch of how the cross-examinations of rape victims happen at the court.

“I felt as if I was raped all over, again,” said a teary-eyed victim at one of the Mahila courts in the city after her cross-examination. Unlike a burglary, where the victim does not have to justify their behaviour at the time of a burglary or prove that they have been burgled, sexual assault victims are subjected to hostile questioning at the court - the reason why 50 percent of the victims give up after a year or two.

Public prosecutors, apart from not being of any help, torture the victims, cry rape survivors. In one of the incidents on Saturday, the parents were asked to summon at 10:30 in the morning and were only called inside at 4:30 pm in the evening. 

“The public prosecutor yelled at the parents in open court for not bringing their disabled child (victim), but there is no need for the victim to be present at the court, till she is summoned by the court. It is almost two years since the parents have been going through the ordeal,” said Shrin Bosko, cofounder, Nakshatra foundation, an organisation that works for child rape victims. In a time where people have been stressing on rehabilitation of the rape victim, they are cross-examined for nearly two hours after two to three years of the incident and both the public prosecutor and the defence lawyer expect them to remember the minute details. Not to forget, POCSO act states that the defence lawyer cannot cross-examine and the communication can only happen through the judge. 
Unlike Dhasvanth's case with strong evidence and media attention, accused get away in most of the cases with political influence and money.  

Nearly five months ago, 8-year-old Harika was at her home alone when an acquaintance pretended to watch TV with her before smashing her head on the wall and raping her. Before seven stitches in her head and, four stitches on her vagina even healed, the accused was given a bail, stating he was just “22 years old”. The case is still pending. 

To try and understand what it must be like to go through the horrific trauma of rape, and then have to spend numerous years of your life dealing with police, lawyers and family members can give you nightmares.