The Supreme Court has taken a step in the right direction. It has drawn a red line on the alarming tendency of lower courts to reduce punishment meted out to persons accused of rape because of a settlement between the victim and the perpetrator of the heinous crime. A bench headed by chief justice P. Sathasivan expressed the opinion that such a compromise did not count in pronouncing the verdict in rape cases. That even included a subsequent marriage between a victim and a rapist (as in a Hindi film featuring Rani Mukherjee). Such factors as religion, race, caste and economic status of either the accused or the victim (as in the case of the alleged saint Asaram) or the long duration of the trial should make no difference. The Supreme Court has thus taken a grim view of rape. The lower courts have also been asked to look into the reasons why a rape case drags on demoralizing the victim.
Unfortunately, the law based on the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee on rape and murder was drafted in an unseemly hurry. It did not remove many of the gaping holes in the existing law. The time has come to start an uncompromising battle to remove the social stigma attaching to rape victims. Even parents often cast them out of family and society. In some cases where the rapist is known to the victim, she is pressurized to dilute her complaint. What is a pity is that nothing has been done to change the law about minors committing rape. It appears that those under 18 who are capable of committing rape cannot be given condign punishment, even if prosecuted.