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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Sexual assault bill okayed by Cabinet covers most forms of exploitation

Sexual assault bill okayed by Cabinet covers most forms of exploitation

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published Published on Jul 21, 2012   modified Modified on Jul 21, 2012
-The Times of India

Changes in laws dealing with sexual assault approved by the Cabinet define "position of authority" to include social, political and economic dominance over a victim of rape - parameters wide enough to encompass most forms of exploitation.

The fine print of Thursday's Cabinet decision also retains an important caveat to making 18 the age of consent with an exception being made -- with reference to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code -- that the enhanced age bar will not apply in the case of married couples.

In other words, sexual intercourse within marriage will not amount to statutory rape if the wife is less than 18 years of age. The exception seems to keep in mind India's social reality, particularly in rural areas, where the female age of marriage is often below 18 despite legal provisions.

Section 375 says, "Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape."

Sexual crimes due to abuse of authority, termed as "aggravated assault", have provisions that are both severe and widely defined. They not only include sexual crimes by police officials and heads of institutions caring for women and children, but also incest-rapes by close relatives such as fathers, brothers and uncles.

In such cases, the court's leeway in assessing evidence has been reduced. The new provisions say that the courts will have to presume that consent for sexual intercourse was not given if the victim says so. The account of the victim will prevail while judging consent, often central to deciding where rape has been committed. This will knock the "quality of consent" argument out of the court room.

The punishment for aggravated sexual assault can range from 10 years to life in jail where an accused is seen to have abused a position of "social, economic or political dominance". Similar clauses apply to assault where the victim is pregnant or where the crime results in grievous harm, the Cabinet note states.

There is a specific provision for assault by an ex-husband where the punishment can range between 2 to 7 years in prison. As far as possible, victims of sexual assaults will not be confronted with persons accused of the crime while there are strict provisions for dealing with officials who fail to implement court orders.

In the sections dealing with acid attacks, even an attempt to disfigure can attract tough punishment. So also intent to assault a person can be adjudged to be a crime.

Times View

These changes in the laws covering sexual assault are for the most part welcome. Clearly, the change to the age of consent provision had to be made keeping the Indian reality in mind since it would otherwise have made even marital sex illegal where the woman was under 18 years of age. The wide definition of what constitutes a position of authority too is a positive development, since authority does not always flow only from formal positions. As with all laws, how well these changes work on the ground will depend on how effectively the law is enforced. That, in turn, will depend to a large extent on how well the police force is trained to shed its old mindsets and adopt the more modern, progressive outlook that the new provisions by and large reflect.


The Times of India, 21 July, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sexual-assault-bill-okayed-by-Cabinet-covers-most-forms-of-exploitation/articleshow/15065470.cms


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