Heinous crimes against women, such as domestic violence, rape, etc. form headlines in the newspapers and news channels almost every single day. For years now, various social welfare institutions and NGOs have been striving to create awareness amongst women to speak up for themselves.
We have witnessed various brave women coming forward to report such incidents. They not only seek justice for themselves but also set an example for thousands of women who do not report such crimes due to societal pressure.
While rape survivors report the incidents in order to seek much-deserved justice, what do they get instead? Mental trauma, delayed justice, social defamation, further threats and abuse and a lot more.
This time, a gang-rape survivor has been arrested for “misbehaviour” during the court proceedings.
Timeline Of The Events
On July 7, a 22-year-old woman who is reportedly illiterate and a cook by profession, filed a complaint with the police alleging that she was gang-raped on the evening of July 6. The complaint was filed in the Araria police station in Bihar.
After the filing of an FIR, she was called to the district court to record her statement on July 10. According to the police, she appeared with two activists from Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, who helped her in filing the FIR with the police.
The medical reports of the woman are awaited and the police have arrested only one of the accused so far while the other four are unidentified.
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What Happened In The Court Of Law?
Reportedly, the woman presented an oral statement in front of the magistrate but declined to sign the written statement in the absence of activists. She insisted that one of the activists read out the statement to her before she signs it.
Later two activists, Kalyani Badola and Tanmay Nivedita attempted to help her. All three women have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly misbehaving with the court officials and interrupting the court proceedings.
The complaint registered against them says that they used foul language against the officials and hampered the official proceedings. According to the police, no companion is allowed with the victim during the recording of the statement.
How Did The Jan Jagran Shakti Sangthan React To The Arrest?
The members of the organisation agreed to the fact that the victim raised her voice in the court but that was primarily due to the mental trauma she had been facing for days. Reportedly, the family members of the victim also did not support her in filing the complaint.
Members of the organisation have also highlighted that the court did not understand the mental state of the survivor and demanded the release of the three women on “humanitarian grounds”.
It is high time that we start taking the mental trauma faced by a rape survivor seriously.
Image Sources: Google Images, Twitter
Sources: The Print, Indian Express, Scroll.in
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This post is tagged under: Heinous Crimes, Rape, Gang-rape, Domestic violence, Araria, Bihar, Araria Court, Mental Trauma, Turmoil, Misbehaviour, Indian Penal Code, Contempt in Court, India, Crimes against Women, activist, breakdown, panic attack, in court, misbehaviour, booked, arrested, demands social workers presence, statement, contempt of court, #releasearariavictims, #justiceforarariarapesurvivor, Jan Jagran Shakti Sangthan, break down in court
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