Sources in the Delhi Health Ministry have confirmed that the Delhi Government’s circular allowing the banned 'two-finger test' - a vaginal examination on rape survivors – in certain cases will be withdrawn completely.
The senior official noted that a review meeting is being organised on Monday to access the situation and to ‘fix blame on those who had issued the circular.’
Health and women’s right have objected to this test for years, claiming it leads to shaming the survivor by jumping to conclusions about her character. In 2013, the Supreme Court held that the test violates the woman's right to privacy, and asked the government to provide better medical procedures to confirm sexual assault. In 2014, the Union government had banned the test.
A Delhi government circular -- sent on the May 31 -- said the test could be allowed under certain conditions and its purpose was not to judge the woman.
The circular noted that “To do away with this essential pelvic examination would amount to incomplete assessment of the survivor, which will ultimately result in injustice and low conviction rates.” But it had also added that “informed consent” of the woman should be taken before conducting the test.
