Don’t reveal identity of rape victim in judgments: HC to Judges

In a direct statement, the Delhi High Court has written to the judges and directed them to not reveal the names of the rape victims and survivors while pronouncing the judgment or at any point of time during the hearing of the case. Judicial officers should not mention the name of survivors in the judgments passed in sexual assault cases and they “ must avoid“ disclosing the identity to protect their reputation, the high court has said. Justice S P Garg said this while noting that a magistrate as well as district and sessions judge had mentioned the name of a victim in their orders in a molestation case. “ Before parting with the case, it is noted that in the judgment dated October 21, 2013, name of the survivor been disclosed mentioned. The trial court was not expected to indicate the survivor's name in the judgment,“ the court said. “ The mistake has been carried out by the district and sessions judge too. Presiding officers must avoid disclosing the identity of the survivor in such cases in the judgment to protect her reputation, “ it said. The court noted it while dismissing a revision petition filed by a man challenging the legality and correctness of a July 2014 judgment passed by the district and sessions judge on his appeal against a magisterial court's verdict convicting him for the offence under section 354 (molestation) of IPC. The magistrate had awarded one-year jail term to the man for outraging the modesty of a seven-year-old girl in Okhla here in July 2012. During the hearing before the high court, the counsel appearing for the man had argued that he was not challenging the findings of the conviction. The lawyer requested the court to take a lenient view considering the fact that the man was around 70-year-old and has remained in custody for a “ sufficient duration“ . The court refused to show any leniency observing that the man was “ well aware of the consequences of his act“ .

OUR TAKE

There have been numerous cases where such a mistake or fault on the part of the Police or the Court officials have resulted in serious consequences for the rape survivors or victims. But at the same time there have also been cases where the victim has herself come forward to reveal her true identity. One of the most famous cases are that of Suzette Jordan from Park Street in Kolkata and Jyoti Singh from Delhi. The rape victims have to deal with a lot of problems after the incident, much of which results from social stigma. All they need is a new way of life and a new hope. A small act, such as keeping the name of the survivor as a secret, can go a long way in ensuring that.