Former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal highlighted that social prejudices influence even legally trained minds, affecting rape case handling, noting reluctance among police, magistrates, and judges due to stigma surrounding sexual offences.
NEW DELHI: Former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal recently spoke about the obstacles rape survivors face both inside and outside courtrooms. She observed that even those with legal training police officers and judges often carry social prejudices that make them hesitant to address rape cases proactively.
Recounting a matter involving the rape of an eight-year-old girl, she said the trial judge had described the offence in vague, stigmatizing terms such as “galat kaam” (wrong thing) and “buri harkaten,” reflecting that stigma.
She pointed out,
“This shows the reluctance of even legally trained mind to engage with matters relating to the human body and especially sexual encounters. So, it showed the reluctance of the investigating officer, the magistrate and the judge. Even legally trained minds bring the baggage of their social upbringing and their education, etc, to whatever services they discharge,”
Justice Mittal added that having access to courts does not necessarily equate to access to justice for survivors. She said victims must be empowered to give strong, unflinching testimony in court.
“Access to justice actually is not synonymous with access to courts. The child needed to be empowered much, much more. We expect the victim of rape – the most heinous crime, the most worst thing that can happen to a woman – to speak in a public courtroom, standing shoulder to shoulder with an offender.”
She warned that even in genuine cases, perpetrators can be acquitted for lack of evidence.
Reflecting on the case she handled, she remarked,
“If this child had actually been raped, I had to acquit because there was no evidence to sustain, no legal evidence. If she had been raped, grave injustice has been done to her.”
Justice Mittal made these remarks at a screening of the Taapsee Pannu film Assi. The film portrays a young mother’s gang-rape in Delhi and explores sexual violence, the complexities of criminal trials in such cases, and their societal impact. A panel discussion titled “The Law, the Courtroom and the Survivor: Re-Imagining Justice” followed the screening.
Recalling her earlier career, Justice Mittal said that as an advocate she had avoided sexual-violence cases because she found them abhorrent, but as a judge she later had to adjudicate such matters. She urged judges and police to set aside personal biases when handling rape cases.
ALSO READ: Manipur Violence | CJI Extends Tenure of Justice Gita Mittal Committee by 6 Months
To illustrate survivors’ courtroom difficulties, she discussed the Park Street rape case and described how victims are often prevented from completing testimony, subjected to irrelevant and intrusive questioning, and thereby disadvantaged.
She said,
“It’s great injustice to the victim. (During rape trials) she is not able to depose. The lawyer for the accused will not let her finish the question. Irrelevant questions are asked – who was your last boyfriend? When did you last go for a date? When did your mother divorce your father? All these are irrelevant, so judge has to be more vigilant and more interactive and controlled.”
She also questioned why convicted rapists are not ordered to compensate victims directly.
She asked,
“We have a very strong, vibrant victim compensation scheme. Interim compensation is paid at the earliest after the crime is reported and the final amount is paid after the at the end of the trial. Compensation is taxpayer’s money. Why shouldn’t the accused compensate the victim for the crime, the injury that he inflicted?”
Justice Mittal criticised societal victim‑shaming and urged people to trust survivors and give them a fair hearing.
She said,
“It is not easy to be a victim of sexual crime. Society itself does victim shaming in a big way. So believe the victim. Don’t do victim shaming. Give the victims a fair chance. Don’t judge. Try to believe them, rather than disbelieving what a victim is saying.”
Senior advocate Vrinda Grover also addressed the event, warning against reflexive responses to rape and noting the film’s portrayal of public vigilantism in such cases.
Grover said,
“Why is it that we are only angry about rape? If this film was about domestic violence, would we have gathered here? A woman’s body was just a thing for these men [in the film]. For many men, for many sisters, our responses are selected, and that’s why vigilantism comes in,”
ALSO READ: Delhi Court Orders Forensic Test of Unnao Gang Rape Survivor’s Voice Sample
She referred to the 2019 Hyderabad case in which suspects were killed by police, criticising public applause for an extrajudicial reaction when the crime was never fully investigated or tried.
She observed,
“We don’t know, and we’ll never know whether they committed the crime. We don’t know who raped, who murdered her, what happened? We will never know now,”
Grover added that public outrage is unevenly applied.
She said,
“Where is this anger coming from and why is it so selective? There is massive sexual violence and sexual abuse in this country on the streets and in our homes. What are we going to do about it? How many men do you want to hide? Who do you want to hang and punish?”
Justice Mittal noted that the uproar over rape is often much quieter when victims are from marginalised communities. Quoting Grover’s observations, she said that sexual violence against Dalit women is frequently treated as routine and largely ignored.
The senior advocate stressed that the legal system cannot be driven by public sentiment and warned that without tackling root causes patriarchy, caste oppression, and economic inequality sexual violence will persist.
She said,
“We respond to violence, we do not address the underlying issues. For the middle class, I always say give equal economic rights to sisters, daughters, wives, mothers, then shake patriarchy. Unless you will dismantle patriarchy and caste domination, these are the reasons for violence. We can feel bad. We can say good riddance. We can put few people away. It will not go. We are part of the problem,”
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE