Thiruvananthapuram3 hours ago
The Kerala High Court has termed it wrong to relate the crime of rape to only one gender. The court says that if a woman cheats a man by promising marriage, then no action is taken against her, but if the man does so then he can be punished. What kind of law is this? This crime should be gender-neutral.
Decision pronounced during the hearing of the custody case
The court made this observation during the hearing of a case of custody of the child of a divorced couple. The court said that crimes like rape should not be seen through the prism of gender. It should be made gender-neutral.
Justice A Muhammad Mushtaq, who was hearing the remarks, made this remark after the woman’s counsel during the case argued that her husband had been guilty in the rape case. On this, the counsel for the opposite side said that his client has just come out on bail and the allegations of rape are baseless. It was said in these allegations that he raped on the pretext of marriage.
Section 376 of IPC provides for punishment for rape
Hearing the arguments of both the sides, the judge expressed his concern over Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Law Code. The judge said that this law is not gender-neutral. Raising the same question during the hearing of another case this year, it was said that the law provisions fixed for the offense of rape in the IPC are different for women and men, while it should not be so.
Last month also the court gave a similar decision
In May, the Kerala High Court granted bail to a doctor accused of rape. The doctor was accused of raping the doctor along with him. The court said that preliminary evidence shows that the relationship between the two was consensual.
Justice C Jayachandran, who was hearing the matter, said that the petitioner has filed a complaint that the accused raped her on several places and occasions. From this it can be understood that there was agreement between the two. In such a situation, the question arises whether the female doctor had given consent to have a relationship due to false promises of marriage on behalf of the male doctor? The answer to this question will be available only after going to the trial court.