Those using two-finger test for rape survivors should be prosecuted: SC
Two-finger test for rape survivors is unscientific, the Supreme Court said on Monday.
The Supreme Court on Monday frowned upon the use of two-finger test for rape survivors, saying those conducting this unscientific invasive method of examination should be prosecuted. The court noted the test re-traumatises the victim as it directed removal of reference to this test from study materials.
During the hearing, Justice DY Chandrachud stressed: "It is patriarchal and sexist to suggest that a woman cannot be believed when she states that she was raped merely because she is sexually active."
“This court has time and again deprecated the use of two finger test in cases alleging rape and sexual assault. The so-called test has no scientific basis and is an invasive method of examining rape survivors...It instead re-victimises and re-traumatises women. The two-finger test must not be conducted,” said Justice Chandrachud while reading out the operative part of a judgment in a criminal case. "The test is based on an incorrect assumption that a sexually active woman cannot be raped. Nothing can be further from the truth.”
The top court had earlier too issued views on the matter on similar lines when the practice was deemed unconstitutional.
In 2013, when the top court had asked government to replace it, it had said: "Undoubtedly, the two-finger test and its interpretation violates the right of rape survivors to privacy, physical and mental integrity and dignity. Thus, this test, even if the report is affirmative, cannot ipso facto, be given rise to presumption of consent."
