New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that the two-finger test on a rape survivor violates her right to privacy, and asked the government to provide better medical procedures to confirm sexual assault. A bench of Justices BS Chauhan and FMI Kalifulla said even if the report of the two-finger test is affirmative, it cannot give rise to presumption of consent on part of a rape victim.
"Undoubtedly, the two-finger test and its interpretation violates the right of rape survivors to privacy, physical and mental integrity and dignity. Thus, this test, even if the report is affirmative, cannot ipso facto, be given rise to presumption of consent," the bench said.
The two-finger test entails medical inspection of the female hymen. Referring to various international covenants, the judges said rape survivors are entitled to legal recourse that does not violate their physical or mental integrity and dignity.
"Medical procedures should not be carried out in a manner that constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and health should be of paramount consideration while dealing with gender-based violence," the apex court said. "The State is under an obligation to make such services available to survivors of sexual violence. Proper measures should be taken to ensure their safety and there should be no arbitrary or unlawful interference with her privacy," the bench said. ...
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12:06 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: A 26-year-old patient has been allegedly raped by a doctor in a clinic in a Mumbai suburb. Her husband claims the doctor offered him bribe to hush up the case and managed to get away with the help of the police. Protests were held on Saturday outside the local police station in Khar - where the clinic is located - after the woman's family alleged that the police were...
08:05 AM, May 19, 2013
Chennai: A drunk truck-driver who lured away and raped a five-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore town has been arrested, police said on Saturday. According to police, the incident took place May 12, 2013, when 25-year-old K Saravanan was cleaning the vehicle near house of the girl, whose parents had gone out on work. He took the girl playing outside her home to his house nearby and sexually assaulted her,...
05:30 AM, May 19, 2013
Jalna: Two persons have been arrested for sexually exploiting a 32-year-old woman, while two others, including a village sarpanch, are absconding. According to police, the woman, resident of Sattephal village in Jafrabad tehsil of the district, filed the complaint on Saturday. She has alleged that her late husband's uncle Bhausaheb Sonone, sarpanch Shivaji Uttam Bankar, Prabhakar Rangnath Bankar and Ramdas Punjaram Bankar had been sexually exploiting her for the last...
11:13 PM, May 18, 2013
Bhubaneswar: A man has been arrested for raping a nine-year-old girl in an Odisha village, police said on Saturday. Santosh Rout, 45, was arrested after the girl's father lodged a complaint on Friday. The victim, a Class five student, had suffered injury marks on her body, a police officer said. Rout allegedly dragged the girl to a secluded place and raped her on Thursday evening when she had gone to...
10:32 AM, May 18, 2013
Moradabad: A 35-year-old woman has been allegedly gangraped and beaten up by four men in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The suspects allegedly assaulted the woman while she was working alone in a farm. She has been admitted to a local hospital, where her condition is critical. "They gangraped me and pushed a stick into my body. They also beat me up with the stick. I fell unconscious. I reached...
08:46 AM, May 18, 2013
Moradabad: A 35-year-old woman has been allegedly gangraped and beaten up by four men in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The suspects allegedly assaulted the woman while she was working alone in a farm. She has been admitted to a local hospital, where her condition is critical. "They gangraped me and pushed a stick into my body. They also beat me up with the stick. I fell unconscious. I reached...
08:37 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday sentenced a man to jail for eight years for repeatedly raping his 17-year-old daughter and threatening her not to disclose the incident to anyone. Pronouncing the sentence, Additional Sessions Judge TR Naval said the one who was supposed to protect his daughter, had repeatedly committed the crime when her mother, who later died, was admitted in a hospital. The court in the order...
05:21 AM, May 18, 2013
Kannur: A Sessions Court in Kannur on Friday ordered DNA test on Bitti Mohanty to obtain scientific proof for establishing his identity following his arrest in March this year after being on the run for several years. Bitti remained absconding by jumping bail following his conviction for raping of a German woman at Alwar in Jaipur. Additional Sessions Judge KV Jayakumar issued the order on Friday on Kerala Police's plea...
11:41 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: A devastated mother of the Delhi braveheart on Friday made fervent pleas for justice for her daughter before a Special court trying four men accused in the case. The lawyer for one of the accused did not cross-examine her saying she is already in deep pain. The mother of the 23-year-old paramedical student, who was gangraped and assaulted in a moving bus, deposed before the court of Additional...
07:00 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: Promiscuous character of a woman is irrelevant in rape cases and a rapist cannot take it as ground of defence for his henious act, the Supreme Court has ruled saying even a female of easy virtue has a right to life. Holding that rape is not only an offence against a woman, but a crime against the entire society, the apex court said that courts should deal with...
05:51 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: A man has been jailed for eight years by a Delhi court for repeatedly raping his 17-year-old daughter and threatening her not to disclose the incident to anyone. Additional Sessions Judge TR Naval sentenced Northeast Delhi resident, saying the convict, who was supposed to protect his daughter, had repeatedly committed the crime when her mother, who later on died, was admitted in a hospital. "Keeping in view the...
01:11 PM, May 17, 2013
Melbourne: A 21-year-old Australian man was on Friday sentenced to 45 years in jail with a minimum non-parole period of 30 years for the "planned and premeditated" rape and murder of Indian student Tosha Thakkar, who he strangled to death, stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in a canal. New South Wales Supreme Court Judge Derek Price sentenced Daniel Stani-Reginald to a maximum of 45 years in jail with a...
10:12 AM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: The Delhi government's 181 helpline for women in distress, which was launched in the wake of the December 16 gangrape, has received over two lakh calls in the last four-and-half months. Officials said most of the calls received by the round-the-clock help line were related to stalking, eve-teasing, obscene calls and facing sexual abuse and domestic harassment. The helpline was launched on December 31, 2012 to help women...
02:35 AM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: The mother of the Delhi braveheart will appear before the fast track court on Friday to depose as a prosecution witness. Meanwhile, the Tihar Jail Superintendent and medical officer also submitted their reports to Additional Session Judge Yogesh Khanna on the health condition of accused Vinay Sharma, who was admitted to the hospital following high fever. The accused is now admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital and receiving medical...
11:05 PM, May 16, 2013
New Delhi: The Tihar jail authorities on Thursday told a special court here that one of the accused in the December 16 gangrape case is being given proper medical care in the hospital where he is admitted and the doctors there are not on strike. "It has been confirmed from the guard, who is escorting guarding the accused Vinay Sharma at LNJP Hospital that the doctors of the hospital are...
09:52 PM, May 16, 2013
Seattle: A 10-year-old Washington state boy was sentenced on Wednesday to up to five-and-a-half year in a juvenile detention facility for his role in a foiled plot to rape and kill a girl at his school and harm other children. The boy was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, juvenile firearm possession and witness tampering in connection with a plot in February at an elementary school in Colville, Washington,...
11:23 AM, May 16, 2013
New Delhi: Another shameful incident of rape has been reported from the national capital. A 21-year-old was allegedly raped by the Chief Medical Officer of Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital in Seelampur. The survivor claimed she was asked to undergo an ultrasound prior to which she was given a drink laced with sedatives. The police said that her medical test confirmed rape and the doctor has been taken into custody. "The...
08:53 AM, May 16, 2013
New Delhi: A 71-year-old tantric was arrested in New Delhi for raping a 10-year-old girl on the pretext of healing her, police said Wednesday. The girl, who had a migraine, had been advised by a neighbour to seek the tantric's help. Her mother took her to Kanu Lal, a tantric in Govindpuri area in south Delhi on Tuesday evening. Lal asked her mother to leave the room as he would...
04:26 AM, May 16, 2013
New Delhi: An accused in December 16 gangrape case has been vomiting blood as his "food was being poisoned" over several weeks in Tihar Jail, his lawyer told a fast-track court on Wednesday, adding that he was critically ill. Additional Sessions Judge directed Tihar Jail authorities to ensure that proper medical care is given to him. The accused, Vinay Sharma, was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where he was...
12:46 AM, May 16, 2013
