Degrading 2-finger test must end: SC

Kanu Sarda @kanusarda

New Delhi: The humiliating practice of subjecting a woman to a two-finger test to determine whether she was raped will come to an end after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled that it “violates the privacy, physical and mental integrity and dignity” of rape victims.  “This test, even if the report is affirmative, cannot ipso facto, be given rise to presumption of consent,” a bench of justices BS Chauhan and FMI Kalifulla ruled. The justice Verma committee has also said victims should not be subjected to this test. The SC was hearing a case involving the rape of a 13-year-old and said the two-finger test was immaterial here as the question of consent did not arise. Last week, it dismissed the appeal of the rape convict from Haryana who had challenged his seven-year sentence for committing rape in 2001. “Such tests are not only inhumane, but they also shatter the girl, who is already traumatised, to another round of humiliation. The apex court has brought relief to all the victims,” SC lawyer Rekha Aggarwal said. Rape survivors were entitled to legal recourse that did not re-traumatise them or violate their dignity and physical and mental integrity, the bench noted, citing the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, 1985.  “Medical procedures should not be carried out in a manner that constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” the SC said. “A rapist not only causes physical injuries, but also leaves behind a scar on her dignity, honour, reputation and chastity." Source::::  DNA,  23-04-2013, p.01.http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=44221&boxid=28942&ed_date=2013-04-23&ed_code=820009&ed_page=1