Anyone who performs the 'two-finger' test on sexual assault survivors will be charged with misconduct: The Supreme Court
"Anyone who administers the two-finger test in sexual assault cases is guilty of misconduct," the Supreme Court ruled. On October 31, the Supreme Court ruled that anyone who performs the invasive 'two-finger' or 'three-finger' vaginal test on rape or sexual assault survivors will be found guilty of misconduct. The sole reason for using the test on traumatised sexual assault survivors, according to a Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, is to determine whether the woman or girl was "habituated" to sexual intercourse.
Whether she was raped or not, such "concern" was unimportant.
"Prior sexual experience is irrelevant to the issue of conduct," Justice Chandrachud ruled.
The flawed logic behind the test was that "a woman cannot be believed when she says she was raped simply because she was sexually active," according to the court.
According to the court, the legislature amended the criminal law in 2013 to include Section 53A in the Indian Evidence Act.
"In accordance with Section 53A, evidence of a victim's character or prior sexual experience with any person shall not be relevant to the issue of consent or the quality of consent in the prosecution of sexual offences," the court ruled.
The Bench noted that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had issued guidelines for health providers dealing with sexual violence cases.
"These guidelines have prohibited the use of the two-finger test," the decision stated. The two-finger test was performed a decade ago in this case.
"However, it is regrettable that it [the two-finger test] continues even today," the court stated.
The court ordered the Centre and the States to ensure that the Ministry's guidelines were strictly followed.
The court ordered that the guidelines be distributed to both private and public hospitals. It stated that workshops for health providers should be held to prevent the test from being performed on rape survivors. The court ruled that medical school curriculum should be revised. It directed that copies of the judgement be handed over to the Health Ministry and distributed to the states' health and home departments. The judgement should be distributed to the Director Generals of Police in each state by the home departments.
"Anyone who administers the two-finger test in sexual assault cases is guilty of misconduct," the court ruled.
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