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India wants women judges to hear rape cases

August 04, 2006 Edition 4

New Delhi - India's cabinet has proposed changes to the criminal code that would make it mandatory for all rape cases to be tried by female judges, Indian media reported today.

The change, which would need to be approved by parliament, would "do away with the tough questioning resorted to by defence lawyers to browbeat and shame rape victims", the Times of India reported.

The cabinet, at a meeting late yesterday, also proposed allowing rape victims to have their lawyers present while being questioned in chambers by the defence.

The amendments would result in a "better, effective and humane criminal justice system", Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.

In May, India's Supreme Court ruled that the testimony of a rape victim is enough to convict a defendant even if medical evidence is inconclusive.

The judges noted that almost 80% of rapists in India go free due to lack of evidence, tardy police investigations or the reluctance of victims to report the crime.

"Indian women have the tendency to conceal such offences because it involves her prestige as well as the prestige of her family," the judges said in their ruling.

They added that victims or family members very rarely have the courage to go to the police to lodge a complaint.

India's national Crime Records Bureau reported more than 18 100 rapes in 2004 and said 175 000 other women were targets of various abuses, including molestation.

The latest changes approved by the cabinet are part of a bill that proposes a number of amendments to the criminal procedure code, including some aimed at making it more difficult for witnesses to recant their testimony.

[Source:www.thestar.co.za]