Ihe Additional Sessions Court in Mapusa has acquitted nine accused in six rape cases registered between 2010 to 2015. In four cases, the victims did not make any incriminating statements against the accused. The other two cases went on for a few years but ended because of a lack of evidence. That is the key element in any case that makes it to court. Without proper evidence, the cases cannot be tried on just the victim’s statements alone. This should be common knowledge but the police seem to be slacking in this regard. In one case, a victim claimed that she knew the men who
her mother claimed had raped her and stated that she would not make any statement. In another case, a wife refused to incriminate her husband because the relationship was now stable. Other refusals to testify and file statements run along the same lines. Can one blame these women? On one hand they are victims of oppression and molestation, which sometimes can go on for months and years and not be a standalone incident.
On the other hand they are
scared, for their lives, their parent’s
lives and the judgments of the people
around them.
There are two issues that are the
reasons behind failed rape cases, a
lack of evidence, as proven by the
recent acquittals, and also a matter
of security when it comes to the victim
and her family. Without these
two there cannot be any successful convictions. The courts
cannot be blamed here. They base their judgements on the
case presented in court and cannot take suo moto cognizance
of anything that doesn’t fall under this purview. The government
cannot be let off the hook however, as they can work to
provide a framework to safeguard those who have been raped,
so that they are protected from threats and other intimidating
maneouvres. They also need to scrutinise the police.
Victims will always be threatened. Aggressors will claim that
it was consensual, or that it was a mistake. Society often tends
to side with the perpetrators in this regard. In this atmosphere,
how many parents or their daughters will actually feel safe or
confident enough to stand their ground and admit to rape on
record in court? To change this attitude, of the victims and
their families, the State and the police need to provide security
coverage. There has to be a system in place to separate the victim
from the aggressor, in order to conduct a swift and proper
investigation. DNA evidence is key. But for that, victims have
to report the crime soon after it happens so that a rape test can
be conducted and DNA evidence collected.
The problem that crops up in most investigations is time.
Victims don’t often reveal what has happened to them immediately.
They often suffer in silence before opening up. In some
cases, when they do come forth immediately, one or both of
their parents/guardians will delay the process of filing a case,
this time to protect the image and good name of the family.
Justice has to be served to the person who has been violated
and not a family member worried about the family’s image or
a perpetrator of the crime. Until women feel safe enough to
walk alone into a police station to report a crime and then see
justice served, we cannot call Goa a safe haven. In these six
cases, the Goa Police have failed those women.
