‘Future Assets of the state are free to rape people’- Guwahati High court

On August 13, an IIT Student accused of sexual assault in Guwahati High court was granted bail by the bench of Justice Ajit Borthakur on the grounds of prima facie in the case. The charges against him were under Section 376 (rape)/328 (causing hurt by means of poison/307 (attempt to murder) / 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.

The decision was made on the fact that both the accused, and the victim were future assets to the state, completing their studies, and at a young age. This narrative continues to signify that the future assets of the state have the right to commit such crimes, especially sexually assaulting another individual and getting away with it!?!

The first thing that comes into mind after hearing this decision of the court is the feeling of rage, and being sorry for the decision-makers themselves. Living in the 21st century, I feel sorry for those who believe that one’s accomplishments can overtake the serious crimes one has committed.

This does not make sense! On what basis did someone have the right to get bail for such a disturbing crime?

I wonder if the decision of the court was partial in any manner. Was the decision just? Or was it partially favouring the societal culture of men getting away with their crimes? Living in a patriarchal society, it has always been the case growing up that it is important to serve men and support them in their actions, no matter how dangerous. Most of the time, the hidden secrets of not wanting others to find out about their committed crimes, such as silencing victims, blaming them and seeing them as the “weaker gender” as society portrays it are just another ways to save predators from all legal obligations.

Please note that I do not speak against men! I do not hate men! And I do not intend to go against the structure of the Indian Judicial system, nor against the judges involved in the case. However, the culture growing up has made the image clear – that there is an empowering gender (males) and the weaker gender (females). My aim is to only break this superstition and to break the chain of the gender stereotypes that nearly destroyed my existence.

LiveMint analyzed the results from the survey of National Family Health Survey from 2015-2016 concluded that nearly over 99.1% of sexual assault crimes go unreported in India. The statistics are self-explanatory and that the government should take more steps, and have more strict regulations against these crimes.

Looking back at the judgement, I highly believe that the case decision should be challenged, and a just decision should be made. Prima Facie is in itself a good ground to grant bail. However, the statement that the student is an asset to the state does not define the ground for one to be set free.

This ruling provides legal permission that students who are potentially aiming to be of value to the country have the permit to sexually assault another individual as they like! If that is the case, we have a big problem that is yet to rise in Indian society. We can expect that offenders/criminals have another excuse to defend themselves against the committed crimes and potentially be set free.