Rape Survivor Faces Dual Crises, Crime Wounds Her Dignity & Trial Forces Her To Relive Traumatic Experience: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court has observed that a woman who is raped undergoes two crises- the commission of a crime, where her dignity is wounded and her sense of security is destroyed and the subsequent trial, where she is forced to relive the traumatic experience.
“It is often stated that a woman who is raped undergoes two crises- the rape and the subsequent trial. While the first seriously wounds her dignity, curbs her individual, destroys her sense of security and may often ruin her physically, the second is no less potent of mischief inasmuch as it not only force her to relive through the traumatic experience, but also does so in the glare of publicity in a totally alien atmosphere, with the whole apparatus and paraphernalia of the criminal justice system focused upon her,” a bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh observed in an order passed on Tuesday denying bail to a man accused of raping a minor girl.
Furthermore, the Court also underscored that sexual violence, apart from being a dehumanizing act, is an unlawful intrusion of the right to privacy and sanctity of a female.
“It is a serious blow to her supreme honour and offends her self esteem and dignity. It degrades and humiliates the victim and where the victim is a helpless innocent child, it leaves behind a traumatic experience,” the bench noted in its order.
In this case, the complainant (mother of the minor victim) lodged an FIR under Sections 376(2)N, 328, 120-B, 506, 452, 323 I.P.C. and Sections 5L, 5J(ii) and 6 POCSO Act on July 9, 2023, alleging that on the applicant raped her daughter. On the day of the lodging of the FIR, the victim was carrying a pregnancy of four months.
Seeking bail in the case, the applicant's counsel argued that the DNA tests had confirmed that the applicant and the victim were the biological parents of the victim's child and on July 30, 2024, the applicant was granted interim bail after expressing willingness to marry the victim and take responsibility for the child.
However, since the marriage could not take place, the applicant surrendered before the concerned court on November 20, 2024, and has been in jail since then. The counsel for the applicant sought bail on the grounds of the detention period of the applicant.
On the other hand, the AGA for the state submitted that the allegations are heinous in nature; therefore, the applicant's bail application is liable to be rejected.
Having heard the counsel for the parties and examined the matter in its entirety, the Court noted that it was not in dispute that on account of forceful physical relations between the applicant and the victim, she became pregnant and delivered a child.
The Court further noted that in the DNA report, the applicant was found to be the biological father of the baby of the victim. Hence, prima facie, the Court did not find any reasonable ground for the false implication of the applicant, and thus, the bail application was dismissed.
Case title - Arvind vs. State Of U.P. And 3 Others 2025 LiveLaw (AB) 5
Case citation : 2025 LiveLaw (AB) 5