Can A Rapist Marrying The Survivor Ever Deter Sexual Crimes?

The apex court's recent statement sheds light on the flawed solution of a rapist marrying survivor in our society. Does that uphold the dignity of the woman in question? Does it dilute the gravity of a heinous crime? Does it fully debase the survivor's trauma and experience?

During the hearing in a case of alleged rape against a minor recently, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde asked a government employee accused of “repeatedly raping” a girl whether he was “willing to marry her.”

The rape case is from 2014-15. The accused Mohit Subhash Chavan, a government technician, allegedly raped a minor student, then studying in class nine more than once, intimidating her with threats to life. The Bombay High Court had last month cancelled Chavan’s bail, an order he was contesting in the SC this month.

“We are not forcing you to marry. Let us know if you will. Otherwise you will say we are forcing you to marry her,” CJI Bobde went on to observe. The accused turned his “offer” down saying, “Now I cannot as I am already married.” Such an offer is not uncommon in India. It is often considered a "practical" settlement that ensures that a survivor gains legitimacy and dignity. But what about justice?

For a country obsessed with protecting women’s “modesty,” India sure has a warped view of what accounts for it. It is not uncommon for marriage being proposed as a solution to rape in our society. As if it is a primer that glosses over the fact that a woman's consent was grossly violated and everyone can carry on with their lovely lives ever after.

A Woman’s Honour Is Important (Apparently Only Sometimes)

What value does our society accord to a survivor’s experience, when its solution to rape is a marriage between the perpetrator and the survivor? When the agency to take a call in the matter is handed to the perpetrator? When it is even contemplated over as a plausible effort towards restoration of her dignity?

Since the man has been accused of rape charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, his case adds to the controversy that recently brewed in light of Justice Pushpa Ganediwala’s back-to-back rulings on sex crimes against minors. More on that here.

Is it reparation to absolve a man of his crimes by appointing him as the husband – and by extension in India the “guardian” - of someone he allegedly attacked? Can sex crimes against women and girls be forgotten by the ever-convenient, ever-available proposition of marriage?

Where Does The Problem Lie?

The entire episode is telling of the tactfully defunct and morally decrepit perspective we hold at large as a country when looking at the concept of rape, rapists, survivors and legal rehabilitation. And the alarming readiness with which marriage is offered up as a solution to most everything in India.

The deplorable thing about this is that it is known to have happened before. Only last year in June, a Kerala priest charged with rape and impregnation of a minor girl moved the courts to marry her instead of facing 20-year imprisonment. The same year in August, the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld that an accused molester could be granted bail on grounds that he agrees to get a rakhi tied by her, offer her gift money and “seek her blessings” with a promise to protect her.

In countries like Turkey, Iraq, Russia and Thailand, the ">patriarchal marry-your-rapist law exists, offering a “marriage” remedy to the rape problem on certain grounds. This is something India has never had, so clearly, the problem here is not by law but through a systemic flaw that regards men above women, social honour above respectful living, and patchwork above real-time change.

All this and more is what feeds into rape culture. Until solid countermeasures aren’t introduced, that monster will keep growing. And no bonds of matrimony will be able to terminate it.

Image Credit: Military.com

Views expressed are the author’s own.