sexual assaults

transgender

Indian Penal Code

Protection of Rights

seeking justice

Two years ago, awas raped on Singhagad Road. Based on her complaint, the police booked four youth under Section 377 (unnatural carnal act against the order of nature) of the(IPC). However, when the case came up before the court, the absence of any mention of the third gender in the section helped the accused to get out on bail, prompting the traumatised survivor to flee the city. This is just one of many such instances of sexual abuse suffered by the third gender that have gone without recompense. Against this backdrop, the transgender community in the city have come together to demand appropriate amendments to the Transgender Persons () Bill, 2019, which has been passed by the Lok Sabha but await nod of the state Assembly.Citing at least three episodes of sexual assault on transgenders, which left the victims dead and many more, where the survivors steered clear of registering complaints for fear of being harassed by the cops, the doctors required to do their medical examination and a largely hostile society, they sought relevant changes to the law in making.In the August 2017, the rape survivor who was assaulted by four men when she was on her way to buy some sweets, managed to file her complaint with the Sun City police chowki, after she escaped the clutches of her abusers. They arrested the four accused under IPC Sections 377, 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504(intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation). But last week, all four were allowed to walk out on bail as Section 377 pertained only to man or woman or animal, and had no mention of the third gender.Alternately, Section 376 (rape) could have been applied to the case, however, even that only identifies the victim as a woman. The legalese effectively put a spanner in the process of justice. Recounting the whole experience wherein the trauma was compounded while, the survivor told Mirror, “When we went to the hospital, the doctors made fun of me wanting to know how a transgender could be raped. I was in lot of pain and had to be admitted to the hospital for two days, yet the cops and the medical fraternity dealt with me very insensitively. The police were not even willing to register my complaint initially. For all the effort, my abusers are out on bail. I came to the city so I could be independent working with an NGO or a group. But the incident made my stay here unbearable forcing me to leave.”Hers was not a singular case. “We are being treated worse than animals. This, despite the country finally recognizing the third gender. I was sexually abused by a man as I was walking alone at Budhwar Peth. I approached the cops accompanied by a friend. As soon as we entered the police station, we were accosted by a cop wanting to know the purpose of our visit. When we tried to register our complaint with a woman cop, she called in a male constable to attend to us. But, instead of helping us he ridiculed us and asked us to leave,” said a transgender who survived an assault only a few months ago.A 22-year-old who was also assaulted had a similar story. “I went to the police station with my guru. But the cops there refused to listen to us and instead accused us of theft.” Armed with these accounts the community is making out a case to revisit the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019.One of the provisions of the bill makes identification of the victim as a transgender mandatory. An application has to be submitted to the district magistrate with relevant documents. The community has opposed this, pointing out that not every transgender can afford to go under the scalpel for a sex reassignment. “There may be many who remain in their original gender physically, though their mental make-up is of the other gender. How will such people garner a certification of their being third gender from the government? In many states the surgery is offered free, but not in Maharashtra, where there is no gender sensitisation. We sought constitution of a ‘Transgender Welfare Board’ but the government has not taken cognisance of this,” explained transgender activist Sonali Dalvi.Besides seeking gender neutrality in accessing education and medical services, she drew attention to the unfair provision in the event of sexual assaults. “The bill prescribes a minimum punishment of six months and maximum of two years if a transgender is raped. On the other hand a rapist who assaults a woman gets a seven year term. This is absolute discrimination. A rape is a rape, be it a man, woman or transgender,” Dalvi pointed out.While accepting the absence of gender neutrality in the law, advocate Chinmay Bhosale noted, “Charges can be added or altered as per relevant provisions, now that Section 377 has been removed. However, given the blind spots on gender neutrality the crime will have to be reassigned as an assault, as the laws on sexual assault are restricted to women.”