Ensure legal aid to every rape victim: HC to DSLSA

The Delhi High Court has acquitted two men of charges of gang-raping a 13-year-old girl, saying the prosecution has failed to to prove their culpabilitythough the possibility of the assault cannot be completely ruled out.While passing the order, it directed the legal aid authority to ensure that every rape victim in the national capital gets a lawyer and counselling services from beginning till the end of the case.The court also reiterated that its 2009 guidelines should be followed in true spirit, including that the rape victim should be provided prompt medical assistance.A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta, while acquitting two men of charges of gang-raping the minor girl, said the possibility of the minor being subjected to sexual assault or rape cannot be entirely ruled out, but the prosecution has not been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the two men were responsible for it.The prosecution had alleged that three accused, including a juvenile, had kidnapped the girl on February 9, 2012 when she was walking towards her friend's house. They pushed her into a car and took her to a room in East Delhi where one of them repeatedly raped her as the other two waited outside.The two men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence of kidnapping and gang-raping the girl by a trial court in November last year."This case presents an opportunity for the court to reiterate the guidelines issued in its decision in April 2009 in Delhi Commission for Women v/s Delhi Police, some of which were not observed in their true spirit in this case. In particular, the victim was not provided prompt medical assistance," the court said.The bench noted that barring two or three dates before the trial court, the child was not represented by a legal aid counsel as mandated by the Supreme Court."The court reiterates the guidelines and further directs that the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) shall ensure that hereafter every rape victim in Delhi, unless she is able to arrange a private lawyer, is offered the services of a panel lawyer of the DSLSA and counselling services from the earliest stage of the case, that is even at the stage of recording of her statement under Section 164 CrPC and thereafter throughout the trial," it said, adding that this may continue till the appeal is decided.It noted that the trauma that the minor underwent was "undeniable" and held that the obvious lapses in the investigation have defeated the case of the prosecution.There were unexplained inordinate delays at every stage of the investigation, the bench said. "Despite the prosecution showing that the crime took place, it has failed to bring the criminals responsible for it to book," it said.The bench, in its verdict, said it was unable to understand why the victim of rape was not immediately taken to the hospital after she met a police officer. In this case, according to prosecution, the police official met the girl soon after the incident at around 3:30 pm whereas she was taken for her medical examination only at 11 pm in the night, it said.

Ensure legal aid to every rape victim: HC to DSLSA

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