Roselyn Tungoe
Rape is defined in India as intentional, unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent. The essential elements of this definition under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code are 'sexual intercourse with a woman' and the absence of consent. This definition therefore does not include acts of forced oral sex, or sodomy, or penetration by foreign objects; instead those actions are criminalized under Section 354 of the IPC, which deals with 'criminal assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty' and Section 377 IPC, covering 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature'.
Rape is the most heinous offence committed on a woman. It is worse than a murder. The victim dies a thousand deaths, even when she is alive. Although it is not her fault, in every case of rape we have seen, without exception, the violated woman is discriminated against and made to feel as if it is she who is the criminal. Society looks upon the offenders with a kinder and more lenient eye. Every woman dies within when she is raped.
In March 1972, Mathura, a 16-year-old tribal girl from Chandrapur district, Maharashtra, was taken to the police station by her brother and other relatives as they were concerned that she was under age and yet was attempting to elope with her lover. The two policemen on duty said they wanted to record Mathura's statement when she was alone. They raped her, while her relatives waited outside. The Sessions Judge held that since she had earlier eloped with her boyfriend, she must have been habituated to sex, and, hence could not be raped. The High Court reversed the judgment, sentencing the policemen to six years in prison. In 1979, the Supreme Court again reversed the order. The judges felt that since Mathura had not raised any alarm, and since there were no visible injury marks on her body, she must have given her consent.
The Mathura rape case galvanised the women's movement into asking for reforms of the criminal law that dealt with rape. In 1983, the government passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which created a rebuttal presumption in cases related to custodial rape. The government also made amendments stipulating that the penalty for custodial rape should not be less than seven years' imprisonment; and it provided for in camera proceedings and made the disclosure of the victim's identity a punishable offence. (http://www.jishisamuel.com/views/rape.shtml).
The processes where laws relating to rape in India evolved have been painfully slow and difficult to say the least. The questions raised here is that of the sensitivity of the Nagas towards rape and sexual harassments in general. Take the recent case in Chumukedima where a young girl of standard nine, also an orphan staying with her relatives was reportedly raped by her neighbour and threatened thereafter with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anybody. It is a classic case study for many reasons: where various organisations, the parties involved, the State authorities, the institutions established to raise the voice for the victims of violence against women either express reactionary lullabies or worse still, remain eerily silent.
Prejudices of the tradition:
The common response is symptomatic of our society’s worst prejudices. The girl/woman is always to blame. Either she is promiscuous or in the words of the perpetrators, “not chaste and having evidences of sexual activity”. This response usually tries to confuse the issues involved. The fact that the woman had past sexual activity has nothing to do with the issue of rape. Trying to mix the two is more criminal in intent and equally heinous as any sexual harassment. The moment various organisations dwell on the past life of the woman or girl victim, it does not augur well for women. It is akin to justifying the act of rape on the victim. Already such attitudes towards rape and sexual harassment have done immense harm to the victims of rape. Prejudices are also institutionalized in the state of Nagaland, as can be seen in the various cases of rape being handled by the various agencies of the state. Sometimes the victims are being dissuaded from going to the police and encouraged to seek the help of the customary courts or the village council. We have done various documentations of such cases and have found that justice has never or seldom been delivered in the customary court or the Village councils. The only formula to address the issues of rape in the aforementioned institutions is the word called “COMPROMISE”. It is sickening to think that the chastity of women is reduced to a negotiable item and marketed in the garb of our prejudices to salvage the honor of the perpetrators.
Misinterpretation of Concepts:
It was shocking to learn that the “CONSENSUS” card was used to justify the rape of an orphan in Chumukedima. The question we must ask in Nagaland is, “when has rape become consensual?” The ability of the perpetrators to not only threaten the victim of dire consequences should she report the matter, but also to misinterpret their act as a matter of consensus is ridiculous to say the least. Are Naga women so ill-disposed not to understand the meaning of consent? Such we fear is the level of politicization; a politicization of rape that no society can bear to shoulder.
Shrill Responses:
The fact that No other Women agencies other than her own tribal organisations have reacted or visited the victims to take stock of the situation and the general apathy of other organisations working for the rights of our people have led us to another set of questions. Are we to reduce our Apex bodies or organisations to mishmash of cacophony-induced inertias whose role stops at issuing condemnations and reverting back to their role of spectators?
The fantasies associated with the primordial concepts of masculinity and the internalization of such concepts in the laws or rules of the society needs to be revisited to understand the prejudices which govern the general understanding of rape. Pray we do not become victims of people who think that rape has ever been consensual.
(The writer is Coordinator, Dice Foundation Kohima, Nagaland)
