The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the union government’s various ministries and departments, asking for their response to a petition by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association. The plea has sought the issuance of guidelines to make the environment safer for women, children, and transgender people. A bench headed by Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has listed the case for hearing in January.
This petition was filed on the 12th anniversary of the Nirbhaya case, involving the horrific rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2012. The timing coincides with several recent incidents of sexual violence, including the tragic rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital in August.
Senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pawani, appearing for the petitioner, pointed out that every day, reports of sexual violence were coming, and most of the incidents go unreported. “Since the RG Kar Hospital incident, about 95 cases of sexual violence have taken place but have not been highlighted,” she said.
In a controversial recommendation, Pawani demanded that the punishment for convicted rapists include chemical castration, citing that in some countries this is allowed. However, the court rejected this recommendation along with all other such demands, terming them “barbaric” and “harsh.” But the bench agreed that certain issues need to be debated, especially the safety of women and children while traveling by public transport, including airplanes.
The court said, “Decency in public transport apart from being taught should be sternly implemented,” quoting from the reports of obscene incidents in airliners. Though the Stringent laws and severe punishment are there for sexual crime, the court mentioned how its implementation is still considered a big question.
The justices stated, “It is essential to identify where the shortcomings lie in the enforcement of punitive and penal laws,” and directed the Attorney General to issue notices to relevant government bodies. “We appreciate the effort to seek relief for the common woman, who faces struggles in her day-to-day life,” Justice Kant added.
In August, during the national furore over the RG Kar case, President Droupadi Murmu also invoked the Nirbhaya incident to express her outrage and horror at the Kolkata crime. She spoke of the “obnoxious collective amnesia” that has been allowing women and children to suffer harassment and violence on a daily basis. “Enough is enough. No civilized society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities,” she said, adding that in the last 12 years, too many rapes have been forgotten. “This is collective amnesia, which is simply unacceptable.”.
