Shubhampreet Singh Wahla, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore
ABSTRACT
As per Section 375 of IPC, "A man is said to commit rape if he penetrates his penis, to any extent, into vagina, mouth or urethra or anus of a woman or makes her do so with him or any other person." It is asserted that the definition of rape under Section 375 of IPC considers rape as an act committed by a man on a woman. It is contended that definition of rape under Section 375 of IPC is violative of Fundamental Right to Equality and Right to life (with dignity) provided under Article 14, Article 15, and Article 21 of the constitution because of the non-inclusion of a particularsex under the ambit of a victim as per the definition. The Justice Verma Committee in its report suggested to make the offence of rape gender neutral, but only from the victim’s point of view.
As a result, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 was released, which made several amendments to make them more inclusive of both genders. However, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013 abolished and replaced the Ordinance. The Amendment Act's definition of "rape" designated exclusively women as the sufferers and men as the offenders. Additionally, the countries like USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Finland have gender neutralized rape laws.
The research contends that definition of rape under Section 375 of IPC is violative of Right to Equality before Law provided by Article 14 of the Constitution, as it does not recognize male as victim and female as perpetrator.
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