Saeed Khan, TNN | Dec 7, 2011, 02.46AM IST
AHMEDABAD: A woman cannot be charged with rape under Indian laws. Even the Supreme Court made it clear in its 2009 order in the State of Rajasthan vs Hemraj and Another case that a woman can't be charged under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which refers to rape. And yet a tribal woman from Panchmahal spent the last five years behind bars, after being charged in a rape case.
Jashi Salat, 26, was set free last week, half way through her 10-year jail term, after the Gujarat high court ordered her release. The court found that the minor victim had not been raped and had chosen to leave her home while eloping with a boy.
A trial court in Godhra had punished Jashi with a 10-year jail term along with two other men in 2006 and even booked her under section 376 of IPC. Her appeal came up for hearing before a high court bench of justices D H Waghela and N V Anjaria last week. The bench not only reduced her punishment to ensure her immediate release, it also directed the government's welfare officers to look after her rehabilitation.
Jashi ordeal began when a 14-year old girl from Bhuki village in Panchmahal eloped with Ashok Thakur from Uttar Pradesh. Jashi, a close friend of the girl, and a jeep conductor from a nearby village Pravin Jadav, helped the girl flee.
Thakur, Jadav and Jashi were booked for kidnapping, rape and abetment in 2006 and later convicted by a sessions court. Jashi, a married woman, was pregnant with her third child when she was convicted. The child was born behind bars. Five years in jail had left Jashi disillusioned about slow judicial process and only asked the HC to reduce the jail term during her appeal. Her lawyer also argued that the lower court could not convict a woman of rape.
IPC's definition of rape begins with "A man is said to have committed rape..." Experts say that because of the definition, the law only applies to men.
The HC bench observed that Jashi's friend had not been abducted, as there was no evidence of force or violence. It also considered the three convicts' good behaviour in jail and ordered their release.
"This is a very curious case," said eminent human rights lawyer Girish Patel. "The law states a woman can only abet rape, not commit the act and yet this woman was convicted of rape," he said.
Jashi Salat, 26, was set free last week, half way through her 10-year jail term, after the Gujarat high court ordered her release. The court found that the minor victim had not been raped and had chosen to leave her home while eloping with a boy.
A trial court in Godhra had punished Jashi with a 10-year jail term along with two other men in 2006 and even booked her under section 376 of IPC. Her appeal came up for hearing before a high court bench of justices D H Waghela and N V Anjaria last week. The bench not only reduced her punishment to ensure her immediate release, it also directed the government's welfare officers to look after her rehabilitation.
Jashi ordeal began when a 14-year old girl from Bhuki village in Panchmahal eloped with Ashok Thakur from Uttar Pradesh. Jashi, a close friend of the girl, and a jeep conductor from a nearby village Pravin Jadav, helped the girl flee.
Thakur, Jadav and Jashi were booked for kidnapping, rape and abetment in 2006 and later convicted by a sessions court. Jashi, a married woman, was pregnant with her third child when she was convicted. The child was born behind bars. Five years in jail had left Jashi disillusioned about slow judicial process and only asked the HC to reduce the jail term during her appeal. Her lawyer also argued that the lower court could not convict a woman of rape.
IPC's definition of rape begins with "A man is said to have committed rape..." Experts say that because of the definition, the law only applies to men.
The HC bench observed that Jashi's friend had not been abducted, as there was no evidence of force or violence. It also considered the three convicts' good behaviour in jail and ordered their release.
"This is a very curious case," said eminent human rights lawyer Girish Patel. "The law states a woman can only abet rape, not commit the act and yet this woman was convicted of rape," he said.
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