Supreme Court of India says submission to sexual assault should not be construed as consent by the victim Monday August 03,2015

Noting that rape is basically an assault on human rights, the Supreme Court on Monday August 03,2015 said submission to sexual assault should not be construed as consent by the victim, but immobility caused by sheer terror.

Quoting judicial precedents, a Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra said in a judgment that ‘consent’ for sexual act required “voluntary participation not only after the exercise of intelligence based on the knowledge of the significance and moral quality of the act but after having fully exercised the choice between resistance and assent.”

The Bench said whether there was consent or not should only be decided by courts after careful study of the relevant circumstances in individual cases.

The SC was looking into the case of rape of a 16-year-old girl by her uncle and a relative. Dismissing the appeals against their conviction, the court said, in this case, the victim being a 16-year-old, whether she gave consent or not was not relevant, and the offence was rape.

“It needs no special emphasis to state that once it is held that the prosecutrix [victim] is below 16 years of age, consent is absolutely irrelevant and totally meaningless,” Justice Misra wrote in the judgment

The SC said she was in a totally helpless situation and despite her resistance, she was sexually abused.

Rejecting a plea for a reduced jail term, Justice Misra observed in the judgment that the gravity of the offence did not deserve this consideration from the court.

“Regard being had to the gravity of the offence, reduction of sentence indicating any imaginary special reason would be an anathema to the very concept of rule of law. The perpetrators of the crime must realise that when they indulge in such an offence, they really create a concavity in the dignity and bodily integrity of an individual,” the judgment held.