Social Stigma Hinders Women from Reporting Sexual Assault: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court recently observed that a female, especially a minor girl, would shy away from publicly disclosing a sexual assault on her to avoid social stigma.

The court was hearing a case where a 16-year-old girl kept her physical relations with a man secret from her family and, later, said she was repeatedly raped on a false promise of marriage. The convict in the case had filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence of 10 years in prison.

The convict’s counsel argued that the trial court had erred in its judgment as the testimony of the victim was not reliable. There were contradictions in the victim’s statement and a conviction based on such evidence could not be sustained, the counsel added.

The counsel further said the allegations against the convict were false as the complaint was filed after a delay of at least a month from the date of the last incident of alleged rape.

The division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi, however, noted that it was stated by several witnesses that the victim and the convict had a love affair. The court also emphasised that the victim had deposed that she did not disclose the fact of repeated sexual intercourse to anyone until the convict married another woman.

“There appears some plausible explanation for not disclosing the sexual relations before the parents and relatives of the victim,” the court observed. Further, regarding the delay in filing the complaint, it said after the victim’s disclosure, the parents had visited the residence of the convict and, after being driven out of there, a police complaint was lodged. Therefore, there appears to be no delay, the court held.

The court also observed that the prosecution had been able to establish the foundational facts of the convict being in a love relationship with the victim, which occasioned him in being a position to commit sexual assault upon the victim.

Therefore, stating that it was incumbent upon the convict to establish that the allegations were false and as to why he was chosen from among the people in the town, to be falsely implicated for the offence, the court ruled against him.