We have come across various cases in our country wherein women have been subjected to harassment, molestation and physical abuse. Many of the cases have seen the involvement of our police officials. One such case is that of the Marine Drive rape, where a police constable raped a 16-year-old college student in the Marine Drive Police Chowki.

The constable was dismissed from his services and the sessions court in its decision held him guilty of raping a minor girl at the Marine Drive police chowki last year. The constable has been sentenced to 12 years’ rigorous imprisonment

The duty of police is to protect the public and any such gross act coming to light having a protector, as the accused in itself is quite shocking.

The punishment for rape as prescribed in our constitution is:

1. Not less than seven years of imprisonment, but it may extend to life imprisonment, or a term which may extend upto 10 years, and the accused shall also be liable for fine.

2. The punishment for raping one’s own wife, who is below 16 years is two years’ imprisonment, or fine, or both.

3. Rigorous imprisonment of ten years which may even extend to life, alongwith fine, is imposed on the following persons committing rape:

i. police officer in charge of a police station;
ii. any public servant;
iii. any staff of a jail or remand home having control over its inmates;
iv. any staff of a hospital, including doctors or other persons, in charge of patients;
v. any person committing rape on a pregnant woman;
vi. any person committing rape on a woman under 12 years of age, &
vii. any person of a gang, committing gang rape.

In case a court imposes a sentence less than the minimum, it must record its reasons for doing so.

Though the decision in the Marine Drive case has been a complimentary one but at large, isn’t the punishment prescribed for committing such a horrendous act too small in degree compared to the gravity of the crime?

In order to completely eradicate molestation and sexual harassment from our country, the laws of the land should rather be more stringent. Men who steep down to such a disgusting level need to be punished in a manner so as to teach them and others a hard lesson not to indulge in any similar crimes.

The act has innumerable consequences attached to it- it is not only the physical trauma but also a permanent mental trauma, which is the aftermath of the deadly and pathetic act. It is not a trauma, which is a phase in someone’s life,

but it is the death of a woman’s self-esteem, self-respect, dignity and belief in oneself and leaves permanent scars in her life. Along with the victim, the family members also suffer and pass through a traumatic phase in life.

Death of a person’s self-esteem in all respect is parallel to a person’s physical murder. Men who commit such a ghastly act are mentally ill and must be hanged till death for committing the murder of a woman’s self-esteem, dignity and self respect. No crime could be as painful and unearthly as this one.

Once we will have a precedence wherein death sentence has been pronounced to the accused, it will for sure help in minimising cases of physical abuse and there would be a day when we would be in a position to vouch having no cases of sexual harassment in our country.

Law surely has made this inhuman act punishable but the degree of punishment needs to be reviewed and has to be more intense in comparison to the present one in order to make our society free from all such similar kind of gruesome and cold-blooded acts.

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