New Delhi:
A woman was arrested by the Delhi police on charges of 'raping' another woman under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The accused, Shivani, had allegedly tried an artificial male genitalia to her waist through a belt and then forcefully committed anal sex upon the survivor. News18 reported that Shivani was produced before the Karkardooma Court where the police were granted a day to interrogate her and thereafter she was sent for judicial custody in Tihar jail. According to the report, the victim was subject to repeated sexual and physical assaults.
It all began in March 2018, when the victim who hails from Northeast India resigned from her job in Gurugram to start her own business. She underwent preliminary training in Punjab's Rajpura and had to give Rs 1.5 lakh as investment money. The victim was taught to approach people at bus stops, railway stations and other places, and explain the scheme to them.
During this process she met Rohit, another accused, who lied to her that he worked for HCL and was ready to invest in her business. The man took the victim to an apartment in Dilshad colony where he and another accused identified as Rahul raped her and shot videos to blackmail her. Later, she was sent to serve clients.
The victim alleged that Shivani often tried to get close to her and whenever she resisted she used to beat her. The victim Rohit and Rahul pinned her down on all fours on the bed while the accused woman “raped” her using a sex toy to “make her ready for anal sex for her customers".
Months later, the victim was rescued by social activist Hemant Sharma. But filing the case wasn't easy. After the Supreme Court's Constitution Bench read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, carnal same-sex intercourse is no longer an offence. However, the aspect of consent remains a debatable topic.
On September 6 last year, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court unanimously decriminalised part of the 158-year-old colonial law under Section 377 of the IPC which criminalises consensual unnatural sex. The bench headed had termed the part of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which crimiminalises unnatural sex as irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary. The bench struck down Section 377 as being violative of right to equality. The top court, in four separate but concurring judgments, set aside its own verdict in the Suresh Kaushal case.
Section 377 refers to 'unnatural offences' and says whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to pay a fine. The apex court, however, said other aspects of Section 377 of IPC dealing with unnatural sex with animals and children shall remain in force.
