Rape is rape even when committed by husband; silence on sexual violence needs to be broken: Guj HC
Ahmedabad (PTI): A rape is a rape, even when it is committed by a man on his wife, the Gujarat High Court has observed, citing that the silence shrouding sexual violence against women in India needs to be broken.
In an order passed recently, Justice Divyesh Joshi observed that the actual incidences of violence against women in India are probably much higher than what the data suggests, and women may continue to face hostility and remain in environments where they are subject to violence.
Social attitude typically characterises certain behaviours such as stalking, eve-teasing, shades of verbal and physical assault, and harassment as "minor" offences, which are "regrettably" not only trivialised or normalised but even romanticised and promoted in popular lore such as cinema, the order stated.
The attitudes which view sexual crimes through the prism of "boys will be boys" and condone them, nevertheless, "have a lasting and pernicious effect on the survivors", it said.
The court made these observations while rejecting the regular bail plea of a woman arrested for subjecting her daughter-in-law to cruelty and criminal intimidation while her husband and son raped and filmed her nude to post videos on pornography sites to earn money.
"In most of the cases of (assault or rape on a woman), the usual practice is that if the man is the husband, performing the very same acts as that of another man, he is exempted. In my considered view, the same cannot be countenanced. A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man, the "husband", on the woman, "wife", the court said.
The Constitution treats a woman as equal to a man and considers marriage as an association of equals, the order stated.
Gender violence is "most often unseen and is shrouded in a culture of silence", and the causes and factors of violence against women include entrenched unequal power equations between men and women, "aggravated by cultural and social norms, economic dependence, poverty and alcohol consumption, etc", it said
"In India, the culprits are often known to the woman; the social and economic "costs" of reporting such crimes are high. General economic dependence on family and fear of social ostracisation act as significant disincentives for women to report any kind of sexual violence, abuse or abhorrent behaviour," it observed.
Therefore, the actual incidence of violence against women in India is probably much higher than the data suggests, and women may continue to face hostility and have to remain in environments where they are subject to violence, it said.
"This silence needs to be broken. In doing so, men, perhaps more than women, have a duty and role to play in averting and combating violence against women," the court said.
It further observed that marital rape is illegal in 50 American states, three Australian states, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia and several other countries.
Even the United Kingdom has abolished the exception given to husbands, it said.
As per the case details, the victim's husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law were arrested after an FIR was registered at the Rajkot cyber crime police station under sections 354 (A) (unwelcome and explicit sexual behaviour, demands sexual favours, shows pornography against a woman's will), 376 (rape), 376 (D) (gang rape), 498 (husband or the relative of the husband subjects such woman to cruelty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 508 (induce a person to believe that if he does not do a particular act, he will be punished by God), and 509 (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to the prosecution, the applicant's son shot nude videos of his wife and their intimate moments on his mobile phone and forwarded them to his father. The applicant was aware of the same, as the acts were done in her presence.
The family needed money to prevent the sale of their hotel by their business partners. The victim's father-in-law also molested her when she was alone, the prosecution alleged.
The court noted that the applicant was aware of the illegal and shameful act, and by not preventing her husband and son from doing such an act, she had played an equal role.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
