Verdict brings clarity on subject of woman’s right to consent

A woman of ‘easy virtue’ cannot be raped by a person for that reason, the Supreme Court has ruled in a significant verdict that brings clarity on the subject of a woman’s right to consent to sexual intercourse.

A Bench of Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Indira Banerjee noted that even if allegations regarding a woman’s immoral character are taken to be correct, that does not give the right to any person to commit rape on her.

The top court’s ruling came while convicting four men of gang-raping a woman in Delhi’s Katwaria Sarai in July 1997, and sentencing them to jail for 10 years.

The four men had argued that the victim was of “bad character and indulged in prostitution”. They contended they were falsely implicated in the rape case since they had lodged a complaint against her. While a trial court here had found them guilty of gang rape, the High Court had acquitted them.

The Supreme Court Bench remarked the trial court had rightly held that “even if the allegations of the accused that the prosecutrix [the victim] is of immoral character are taken to be correct, the same does not give any right to the accused persons to commit rape on her against her consent”.

“Even assuming that the prosecutrix was of easy virtue, she has the right to refuse to submit herself to sexual intercourse with anyone,” the Bench said.

It noted that even in cases where there is some material to show that the victim was habituated to sexual intercourse, no inference like the victim being a woman of “loose moral character” is permitted to be drawn from that circumstance alone.

The SC reiterated that it is now a well-settled principle of law that conviction can be sustained on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix if it inspires confidence.

In this case, the Bench relied on the testimonies of the victim, which was corroborated by her mother, who saw the accused leaving the jhuggi and identified two of them in court.

It also noted that evidence by the victim was corroborated by the medicolegal case report, which stated that the injuries found on her were possible by use of force.