Facts:
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India rated as the most dangerous country for women, as per Thomson Reuters Foundation survey 2018.
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According to a National Crime Records Bureau report (2019) as many as 32,032 rapes were reported in 2019 (88 incidents of rape a day).
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Every hour, 39 instances of crime against women including four instances of rape are committed in India.
Judgments lacking gender sensitivity:
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Marital Rape Case:
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SC granted bail to a government servant who is accused of repeated rape and torture of a 16-year-old child.
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During this hearing, CJI questioned that “When two people are living as husband and wife, however brutal the husband is, can the act of intercourse between them be called rape?”
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Unofficial forgiveness:
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A few years ago, the supreme court orally asked a convict who had molested a girl 10 years ago to fall at her feet and that if she forgave him, the Court would limit his sentence of imprisonment to the period already undergone.
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Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court also issued a similar order. It ordered that the sentence of the ‘rape convict can be cut if he agrees to pay ₹1 lakh to the victim.
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Bhanwari Devi case (1995)
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Rajasthan court acquitted the accused. The reasons given were not gender sensitive at all such as
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Higher caste man cannot rape a lower caste woman for reasons of purity
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Men who are 60-70 years old cannot commit rape
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One relative cannot commit rape in front of another relative
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Not applying vermilion ground for divorce:
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In 2020 the Guwahati High Court said that refusal of applying sindoor (vermilion) and wearing conch shell bangles (shaka) as sufficient basis to grant a divorce to the husband.
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Narendra vs K. Meena (2016), the SC said that under Hindu traditions, a wife after marriage is supposed to fully integrate herself with her husband’s family.
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Refusal of women to live with in-laws amounts to cruelty. Therefore, the husband would be entitled to divorce her under the Hindu Marriage Act.
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Hadiya Case:
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Court has intervened against the right of a woman to marry according to her will.
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The woman’s father accused that she was forcefully converted to Islam. Though, Hadia had denied it repeatedly.
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The court ordered an investigation by the National Investigation Agency for looking into the matter of marriage of two adults.
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