ACQUAINTANCE RAPE: RAPE IS ALWAYS THE FAULT OF THE OFFENDER

The Author of this blog is Ms. Anuja Tripathy, Student, KIIT School of Law, KIIT University, Odisha

Terms

Victim - The words "victim" is used to describe a person who is raped.

Offender - The person who raped the victim is referred to as the "Offender."

Sexual Assault and Rape - The terms "sexual assault" and "rape" are used interchangeably.

Acquaintance rape is a sexual offence committed by an offender who knows the victim or someone who is in a close circle of the victim. Thus acquaintance rape in other words can also be said as date rape. Date rape is committed by offering a drug mixed in any kind of drink like alcohol, soft drink, etc. Drug has the ability to take away to be in control or get help from somebody. Few common date rape drugs are:

      i.        Rohypnol - roffies, mind eraser or launch money.

    ii.        Ketamine – bump, super acid and special K.

   iii.        GHB (gamma hydroxybutyric acid) – energy drink, gook or cherry meth.

These drugs can be mixed into drinks and are impossible to detect especially if mixed in dark colored drinks or dark room, etc. The drug weakens and confuses the victims and causes them to pass out and forget everything that happened with them while they were on the date rape drugs.

Acquaintance rape is an offence covered under Section 375 of Indian penal code, 1860 which states:

375. Rape[1] —A man is said to commit “rape” who, except in the case hereinafter excepted, has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the six following de­scriptions:—

(First) — Against her will.

(Secondly) —Without her consent.

(Thirdly) — With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or of hurt.

(Fourthly) —With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband, and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be law­fully married.

(Fifthly) — With her consent, when, at the time of giving such consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupe­fying or unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she gives consent.

(Sixthly) — With or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age. Explanation.—Penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse necessary to the offence of rape.

(Exception) —Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape.

Any sexual offence committed by an offender upon the victim be it a stranger or by the known person which includes force, manipulative, coerced sexual contact and forceful[2] penetration without the will of the victim attracts rape under the Section 375 of IPC[3].

Statistics

      i.        According to the National Crime record bureau 94% of victim knows the offender i.e; most of the rapes in India are Acquaintance Rape, where minor are also victim to such heinous crimes. According to NCRB in 2018 every fourth rape victim is a minor and mostly the offender is a known person to the victim, while more than 50% of the victim fells under the age of 18-30.

    ii.        Despite various federal government campaigns such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao – Educate the daughter, Save the daughter – the crime rate per 100,000 women increased to 58.8% in 2018 in comparison with 57.9% in 2017.[4]

   iii.        As many as 33,356 rape incidents were reported during 2018 involving 33,977 victims where an average 89 rapes daily. In 2017, 32,559 rape cases were registered, while in 2016 the number stood at 38,947, the data stated[5].

   iv.        According to the NCRB, 14.1%  rape victims (4,779) were aged above 16 years and below 18 years, followed by 10.6% (3,616) who were between 12 and 16 years, 2.2 % (757) who were between 6 years and 12 years and 0.8% (281) were below 6 years.[6]

    v.        According to the statistics, In 2,780 cases the victims were violated by their own family members, while only in 2,036 cases the offenders were unknown to them.

   vi.        Among states, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest (5,433) such cases in 2018, followed by Rajasthan (4,335), Uttar Pradesh (3,946), Maharashtra (2,142), Chhattisgarh (2,091), Kerala (1,945), Assam (1,648), Delhi (1,215), Haryana (1,296), Jharkhand (1,090) and West Bengal (1,069).[7] 

Rape Statistics

              i.        84% of women who were date raped knew there attacker.

            ii.        90% of date rapes occurs when either the offender or the victim is drinking.

           iii.        44% of date raped women have committed suicide.

           iv.        The women between 16- 24 years of age are four times more likely to be date raped.[8]

From the above statistics it very clear that Acquaintance Rape is the most common form of Rape the Victims are subjected to face.

Remember rape is never the victim’s fault. It doesn’t matter where the victim was or what she was wearing. Rape is always the fault of the offender.

Some Facts About Aquaintance Rape

      i.        It can happen anywhere at any point of time.

    ii.        Most Acquaintance Rape victims are aged 15-24.

   iii.        It may be planned by someone who knows the victim. The offender may be a colleague, boss, friends, date or any other family or relatives for that matter.

   iv.        Most of the Acquaintance Rape is not even reported with the police[9].

Every Rape Victims Reacts differently to the incident. 31% of rape victims develop some form of Rape-related Post-traumatic Stress Disorder[10]. No Rape is Justified neither Sexual assault is justifies hence the offender is subject to punishment under Section 376 of IPC[11] shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for the term of not less than 10 years and may be for life and also liable to fine. The offender is liable to provide the victim with all the medical expenses if any.

What Should The Victim Do?

      i.   The first step the victim should take is to inform somebody about the incident of assault or abuse.

    ii.          Secondly, the victim should report it to the police immediately.

   iii.  Thirdly, the victim should get herself /himself medically examined within 72 hours for the evidence of being raped.

Women are not the only one who is subjected of being raped; Men can also be sexually assaulted but the in India the crime rate for women are higher than men. But if a man undergoes such unwanted sex they are equally categorized as victim of sexual assault.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that Sexual assault, rapes are sexual offences and are crimes which is a never ending topic and a broad aspect of debate. The victims are not at fault rather they should be supported for punishing the offender, legal assistance, medical care, councilor, etc. Therefore, there is no legal difference between sexual assault by an acquaintance and sexual assault by a stranger. After Nirbhaya case the rape laws are stricter now and the Juvenile act has been amended. It is not only prevalent in India; it is a worldwide problem where every now and then someone is being sexually assaulted. Being raped or sexually assaulted is not the fault of the victim rather it is the fault of the offender.

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[1] The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860), s.375.

[2] Facts and figures: Ending violence against women: http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures.

[3] The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860), s.375.

[4] Editorial, “A rape in India every 15 minutes: government data” Asistimes, Jan.15, 2020.

[5] Editorial, “Rapes in India: 94% offenders known to victim, every 4th victim a minor” Indiatoday, Jan.10, 2020

[6] Id p.no.2

[7] Id p.no.2

[8] Stats are referred from RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incent National Network)

[9] U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice, Report on the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault for 1993, US Doc. 146610. (1993).

[10] National Center for Victims of Crime & Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992, India, available at : https://www.ncjrs.gov/ovc_archives/reports/help_series/pdftxt/sexualassaultvictimization.txt ( last visited on August 2, 2020).

[11] The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860), s.376.