Rape Survivors Need Reparations, not Suggestions for Marriage

Indian courts have for long acted as marriage bureaus in cases of sexual violence. The Supreme Court is not the first, and might not be the last, writes ABHINAV MEHROTRA.

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THE Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde, said earlier this month that his statement in court asking a rape accused whether he would marry the victim was completely misreported. During another hearing, he said that under section 165 of the Indian Evidence Act, judges have the power to put questions or order production. Bobde's remarks nevertheless raised a debate over the rights of survivors of sexual violence to make their own decisions regarding their future.

In judicial discourse, the rapist is either portrayed as atavistic, i.e., a male body that falls from culture, or as a pervert who needs medical attention. These sentiments, where the culture needs to change, echoed in the recent comments of Uttrakhand Chief Minister Tirat Singh Rawat, who criticised the ripped jeans trend. His remarks, too, invited countrywide condemnation through slogans like "torn jeans, visible knees, do not guard my thinking."