The Supreme Court on Friday rapped the West Bengal government for its failure to prevent the gang rape of a 20-year old woman on the orders of a khap panchayat on January 20/21 this year as punishment for having relationship with a man from a different community.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices S.A. Bobde and N.V. Ramana passing orders on the suo motu cognisance of the incident at Subalpur village, district Birbhum, said “the question in this case is whether the State Police Machinery could have possibly prevented the said occurrence. The response is certainly a ‘yes’. The State is duty bound to protect the Fundamental Rights of its citizens; and an inherent aspect of Article 21 of the Constitution would be the freedom of choice in marriage.”
Writing the order, the CJI Sathasivam said, “Such offences are resultant of the State’s incapacity or inability to protect the Fundamental Rights of its citizens. Violence against women is a recurring crime across the globe and India is no exception in this regard. The case at hand is the epitome of aggression against a woman and it is shocking that even with rapid modernisation such crime persists in our society. The crimes, as noted above, are not only in contravention of domestic laws, but are also a direct breach of the obligations under the International law.”
The bench said, “India has ratified various international conventions and treaties, which oblige the protection of women from any kind of discrimination. However, women of all classes are still suffering from discrimination even in this contemporary society. It will be wrong to blame only the attitude of the people. Such crimes can certainly be prevented if the state police machinery work in a more organised and dedicated manner. Thus, we implore upon the State machinery to work in harmony with each other to safeguard the rights of women in our country.”
Taking into consideration the plight of such rape victims being denied treatment immediately the Bench directed that all hospitals, public or private, whether run by the Central government, the State government, local bodies or any other person, to provide first-aid or medical treatment, free of cost, to the victims of any offence relating to rape or acid attack.”
In this case, the Bench directed the West Bengal government to give Rs.5 lakh as compensation to the victim within one month, in addition to Rs.50, 000 already paid by the State. “Keeping in view the dreadful increase in crime against women, the Code of Criminal Procedure has been specifically amended by recent amendment dated 03.02.2013 in order to advance the safeguards for women. The courts and police officials are required to be vigilant in upholding these rights of the victims of crime as the effective implementation of these provisions lies in their hands. As a long-term measure to curb such crimes, a larger societal change is required via education and awareness.”
The Bench said, “Government will have to formulate and implement policies in order to uplift the socio-economic condition of women, sensitization of the Police and other concerned parties towards the need for gender equality and it must be done with focus in areas where statistically there is higher percentage of crimes against women.”
