National vice-president, AIDWA, U. Vasuki
Chennai: The Madras High court’s order recalling its own order directing a rapist and his victim to go for mediation, has evoked a good response among women activists and jurists. National vice-president, AIDWA, U. Vasuki, who launched the protest against the HC order, pointed out that Justice J.S. Verma Commission, constituted to recommend amendments to criminal law so as to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals accused of committing sexual assault against women, observed that it is the duty of the state as well as civil society to deconstruct the paradigm of shame honour in connection with a rape victim.
According to the Verma Commission, the concept of a woman seemingly risking her reputation and honour by reporting a crime of sexual assault against herself must change. This is a fundamental misconception which is inbuilt in society dealing with women. We do not think the victim suffers a stigma. It is a stigma against society.
The victims ought to recover like any other victims from an accident, but that is possible only when there is a due discharge of the functions by the state, the commission noted. Praising the decision to recall the judges’s own order, Vasuki said it is a welcome move. Rape cases cannot be settled in mediation centre. It is a patriarchal tendency to send the victim for mediation. Henceforth, such cases should not refer to the mediation centre.
