Amidst widespread demand for the death penalty in cases of rape and brutal sexual assault, the Justice Verma Committee on Wednesday sought a minimum 20 years’ imprisonment for brutal rape cases extending to life imprisonment.
While the people and the majority of politicians have sought the death sentence for the six who brutally raped the 23-year-old paramedic student, the committee refused to recommend capital punishment for rapists, terming it a “regressive step”. It has also turned down “chemical castration” as a punishment for rapists and refused to lower the age bar for juveniles convicted of such crimes. However, the committee proposed that if a woman ends up killing a rapist, or a would-be rapist, she can claim the right to self-defence under IPC Sec. 100.
The committee submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The panel urged the Centre to remove ambiguity over the command and control of the Delhi police by giving administrative charge of the force to the Delhi government, as suggested by Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit
In his 631-page report, former Chief Justice J.S. Verma, while favouring comprehensive amendments to criminal laws, stated that “rape, sexual assault, eve-teasing and stalking are matters of concern, not only because of the physical, emotional and psychological trauma which they engender in the victim, but also because these are practices being tolerated by a society ostensibly wedded to the rule of law”.
His report flayed the administration, the state, the bureaucrats and the government machinery for being insensitive towards women, particularly victims of sexual assault. Union home secretary R.K. Singh, who praised the Delhi police for its “speedy investigation” a day after the December 16 brutal gangrape came in the line of fire. “The commissioner of police was given a pat on his back by no less than a person holding the post of home secretary. I was shocked to see that,” Justice Verma told the media. He felt the least the home secretary could do “was to seek an apology for the failure of the Delhi police in performing its duty to protect citizens”. Justice Verma also rapped the Delhi police for its crackdown on people protesting peacefully against the Delhi gangrape, saying that it “scarred Indian democracy”.
The apathy of the Indian states to take serious note of the plight of women was evident. Justice Verma, who appreciated the 80,000 suggestions and contributions the panel got from India and abroad, including professors from Oxford and Harvard, a judge from Australia and the Chief Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court, he rued the “apathy” shown by both Central and state government functionaries who were instrumental in setting up the committee. “If this is the attitude of the DGPs, then there should be a review of the process of their appointment,” Justice Verma said.
The panel has rejected the pending recommendation of the government to change the definition of “rape” to “sexual assault” and increase the age of consent from 16 to 18 years. It has removed the existing “exception for marital rape” under rape laws and suggested creation of new offences, including rape of underage persons (below 16 years), gangrape causing death or a persistent vegetative state, acid attacks, disrobing a woman, voyeurism, stalking and trafficking and increased punishment up to life for repeat offenders. The committee has said “intentional touching will constitute the offence of sexual assault for which punishment will be a maximum of five years’ rigorous imprisonment or fine or both”. Further, “use of words, gestures which create an unwelcome threat of sexual nature or advance would invite a maximum punishment of one year’s imprisonment or fine or both”.
It has also recommended creation of a new constitutional authority like the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for education and non-discrimination in respect of women and children. The panel also slammed khap panchayats, saying the means adopted by them have assumed “unreasonable proportions”. It asked the government to ensure such bodies do not interfere with choices made by people regarding marriage “since one of the most prevalent practices of khap panchayats to enforce their writ was honour killing”.
In a separate chapter, the three-member panel, which also has former high court Chief Justice Leila Seth and former attorney-general Gopal Subramaniam as its members, said measures of khap panchayats, like disallowing inter-caste marriages, do not have legal sanction under the Hindu Marriage Act.
Justice Verma said law enforcement agencies like the CBI must be insulated from external pressures. “They must not become a tool in political hands.” The panel also recommended barring politicians with records of sexual assault on women from contesting elections. “We do not want such persons to be enacting laws in Parliament,” he said, adding that transparency in performance by all institutions of governance is required.
In a first, the panel has recommended stringent punishment for public servants who fail in delivering “command responsibility” in the police and armed forces, making it a punishable offence with seven to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The Verma panel has suggested the appointment of special commissioners with adequate powers to redress complaints of sexual violence against women in conflict areas. It also called for an urgent re-look at the AFSPA and recommended that sexual offences by armed forces and uniformed men in conflict areas should be brought under ordinary criminal law. The committee said “The brutalities of the forces faced by residents in border areas have led to a deep disenchantment and lack of mainstreaming of such people in civil society.” The panel added there was a need to develop community policing by involving the local people, which would also motivate them to perform their duty as citizens.
While the police had lathi-charged and teargassed and used water cannon against the protesters who poured out onto the streets to protest, Justice Verma hailed the youth of the country for their “spontaneous show” against the Delhi gangrape incident, saying he was “struck by the peaceful manner” in which they led the mass movement in the national capital.
The report, taking on the state, added: “It is indeed tragic that the brutal gangrape of a young, defenceless woman on December 16, 2012, by a group of perverted men in the heart of the nation’s capital was needed to bestir the government into action realising the gravity of the situation, which could no longer countenance delay in taking necessary steps to provide adequate measures for the safety and protection of the womenfolk in the country.”