LEGAL REASONABLENESS OF TWO FINGER TEST: IN THE LIGHT OF SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENTS

Author: Ayushi Shukla student at Renaissance University Indore(M.P.)

INTRODUCTION:- What do you believe to be the main deterrent for most rape victims to report rape cases? The two-finger test is one of the main causes. The traumatizing and unreliable two-finger test is still employed as part of the medical examination in a number of South Asian nations. In this procedure, two fingers are inserted into the rape victim's vagina by a medical professional in an effort to "test the laxity of the vagina" and see if the hymen is ruptured.

The test is frequently used to label rape victims as being "habituated to sex." Medical proof of prior sexual encounters is used to refute rape allegations, either to imply that the victim lied about the rape, to imply that the rape was not harmful, or to imply that the victim is morally repugnant and hence not entitled to justice. But do you really believe that virginity can be proven by having an unbroken hymen?

WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY TWO FINGER VIRGINITY TEST:- The two-finger test, known as per-vaginal examination in medical jargon, it involves the examination of her vagina to check if she is habituated to sexual intercourse.

According to medical professionals, the two-finger test is unreliable and doesn't offer any conclusive information. Hymen is to blame for this, and flexibility of the vaginal orifice can happen for reasons unrelated to sex. Furthermore, the charge of rape has nothing to do with such facts.

TWO FINGER TEST & VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO PRIVACY OF RAPE VICTIMS:- According to Article 21 of the Constitution, "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except in accordance with a procedure established by law." The Indian courts have construed this to include the right to privacy and the right to maintain one's physical integrity as well as to forbid any kind of inhumane or degrading treatment. The 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case, which called for more stringent laws to outlaw the two-finger test, led to the creation of the Committee, which was headed by former Chief Justice JS Verma.

In the most infamous Nirbhaya case in (2012) the supreme court ruled that, the two-finger test infringes on women's privacy rights and liberties, and it encouraged doctors to find another way to verify the victim's claims by urging that the two-finger test be banned.

An another case Lillu V state of Haryana (2013) in which the supreme court observed the illegality and inhumanity of the two finger test applied to test the allegations of the rape victims.

SUPREME COURT SAYINGS ON TWO FINGER TEST:-

A Supreme Court panel ruled in 2004 that "whether a woman is 'habituated to sexual intercourse' or 'habitual to sexual intercourse' is irrelevant for the purposes of determining whether the ingredients of Section 375 (rape) of the IPC are present" in a particular case.
The court had also found that it is explicitly discriminatory to assert that a woman's claims of being raped because she engaged in sexual activity cannot be believed.
In order to end violence against women, the United Nations Human Rights, UN Women, and the WHO advocated for a ban on the two-finger test in 2018. They argued that this practice is traumatizing, painful, and not medically necessary.

CONCLUSION:- The victim's mental, bodily, and ethical health will be severely harmed by a test like the Two-Finger test, which is just another inhumane and unreasonable procedure that violates their right to privacy. By passing revised legislation that are applicable uniformly across the nation, the test should be denounced and rigorously forbidden.

REFERENCES

SCC ONLINE

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/623254/

https://blog.ipleaders.in/medical-examination-of-rape-victim/

www.legalserviceindia.com