Fraudulent Rape Accusation: The need to balance justice for the accused and the victims

AUTHOR: SAHEB MATALIA, UNIVERSITY LAW COLLEGE, UTKAL UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The act of rape comprises of forcible sexual intercourse. Rape is defined as “intercourse with or without consent and against the wish of the woman by use of force, intimidation or by fraud, coercion or when the woman is forced to have intercourse with him because she is drunk, has been deceived or is in any way is forced because of being a minor aged less than 18 years. ” Rape is a very real and growing problem in India, but unfortunately what’s also rising rapidly is the number of fake Rape cases are on the rise and a certain ratio has to be reduced so as for the country to considered safe.

In this paper, the author aims to discuss the precarious nature of false rape accusations as a subject that offers the society a challenge to protect the innocence of both the accused and the actual victims. It looks at the symptoms of the false accusations to the pertinence of false accusation in the society, and possible lawful repercussions of the accused. The paper also talks about the issues of proper investigation and necessity of services to be provided to both the accused and the victims. Finally, it also has a goal of giving a better perspective with and probably a way of dealing with the issues arising out of a case of rape by a woman who makes a fake accuse.

Keywords

Rape, sexual abuse, Defamation, Sec 248 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sec 217 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sec 231 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sec 233 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, psychological disorder, legal regulations

Introduction

Rape is a worst crime and violation of human right that occurs all over the world. The legal definition of rape in India is given by Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. This kind of violence is a disheartening type of sexual attack where the offenders forced victims to have erotic contact without their consent causing them lifelong trauma. Rape Victims feel a sense of sorrow, physiological pain, mental trauma such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and many other diseases are a result of Sexual Violence.

Lawmakers have enacted a plethora of laws protecting the honour of survivors and helping rape victims Despite this, some people take advantage of these protections to make rape allegations that are false. Today, in this society we live in, being falsely accused of rape can ruin a man shows it is an either intense association or a huge ignorance on the nature of rape cases by our upholders. The society sympathizes with the woman and views the blamed men as a rapist without questioning whether her allegations have any truth, which have an effect on falsely implicated man's life, it ruins his mental peace, his reputation & also professional life. The article goes through the problems of false accusation of rape against men and handling the equal justice required for both victims and innocent men in a fair legal trial.

In India, rape cases are being filed are seriously treated; although the laws that have been made for victims welfare are being as weapon to spoils image on men and blackmail them. The executions of the legal remedies handed by Sec 248 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sec 217 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sec 231 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sec 233 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for false allegations are unskillful. This peice really drives home just how unprincipled these laws are at preventing false rape claims. The most important laws that should be put in proper use, law which has been contorted and reduced gravity of true rape victims as the various so called victims pictured by #MeToo campaign, as well as at other controversies are given free-pass due how misuse of these old Acts!

Literature Review

The examination of false rape allegations within legal studies, looking at false rape cases in India can get very complicated and controversial. We must remember that for all of the false reports, real cases exist. This duality appears in our reading too, making the point that we must work for a balance of fairness and equity to both those who accuse and to those accused.

Rape - In India, Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,2023 deals with rape. According to this, a man commits rape when he penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina of women without her consent.

63(a) of BNS : penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of a woman, makes her to do so with him or any other person;

63(b) of BNS : in any extent, puts up any object, or any part of the body other than the penis, into the vagina, the urethra or anus of a woman or compels her to do so with him or with any other person.

63(c) of BNS: touches or compels any part of the body of a woman in such a manner as to make penetration into the vagina, urethra, anus, or any other part of the body of such woman; or makes her do the same with him or another person.

63(d) of BNS: applies his mouth to the vagina, anus, urethra of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person, under the circumstances falling under any of the following seven descriptions:—

(i) against her will;

(ii) without her consent;

(iii) with her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested, in fear of death or of hurt;

(iv) with her consent, where the man knows that he is not the husband of the woman and that she consents because she supposes or believes that the man with whom she is cohabiting is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married;

(v) In addition, it is a defense for the accused to have had sexual intercourse (v) with her consent when, at the time of giving such consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome substance, she was unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she agreed.

(vi) with or without her consent, where she is under eighteen years of age;

(vii) Thus the necessity of consent being given; when she cannot speak for herself.

This is an offense provided under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Which defines false charges of offences under Section 211.

Section 211 states:

Whoever sets or procures the setting of any person in a criminal prosecution for an offense he knows that the person charged has not committed, when there is not sufficient evidence to justify the proceeding and when this act is done maliciously shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and thereof be liable to imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine, or to both.

Methodology

Purpose of the study: The present research focused on analyzing fictitious rape reports and this study used mixed methodology to accomplish its goals. The data was collected by use of a survey on the populations with representatives from the population being used. In gaining quantitative data the researchers conducted surveys with the falsely accused rape victims, their close relatives and advocates. Data analysis of this nature involved using thematic analysis to make sense out of the qualitative data collected. : This is true as issues of ethical practices like getting informed consent besides observing the principles of confidentiality were observed to the letter throughout the research process.

Results

Civilian Accommodation and Punishment for the Accuser:

Perjury Charges: If false statements are made under oath, the person who accused can be charged with perjury and upon conviction be imprisoned and fined.

False Reporting Charges: Text: Deliberate lies can warrant one to be arrested, charged, prosecuted convicted or imprisoned or to pay a hefty fine.

Civil Liability:

Defamation Claims: If the accuser’s claims tarnish the image of the accused, the accused has the opportunity to seek defamation (libel or slander) from the accuser and receive pecuniary compensation for the alleged damages.

The Impact of bad publicity to the accused:

Employment Challenges: The case may be a rape allegation, which is as disastrous in the job market and career as it is in a person’s personal life, regardless of the truth behind the accusation.

Social Isolation: The accused may suffer from social isolation which affects their ability to related with families, friends and the community.

Mental Health Issues: This stress and stigma would further make the man feel accused develop anxiety, depression and other mental related issues.

Impact on the Justice System:

Undermining Credibility: This is because those with genuine cases end up being affected by fraudsters who make the system challenging for other genuine victims who want to report cases of fraud.

Resource Drain: In particular, sexual allegations are unfounded and occupy time and efforts of police and the legal system while depriving them of attention to more accurate cases.

Consequences for the Accuser:

Public Backlash: Once the falsehood is revealed, the accuser may also suffer the consequences of the acquired social reputation and becomes stigmatized.

Potential Legal Repercussions: The accuser may be sued for malicious prosecution or emotional distress by the accused or he may suffer from a countersuit.

Prolonged Effects on the Accused:

Persistent Stigma: But even if the accused person is set free, they never feel at ease to clear their names for that stigma of the case stick in the society and records.

Therefore, false rape allegations have legal social, and psychological ramifications for the accuser and the accused and can operate in reverse on the functionality of the justice system.

Discussion

There are some laws and alterations for fake claims, including fake rape. In India these laws come under Indian Penal Code 1860 which has recently been updated to Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023.

Many of the laws are::

Section 217 of BNS relates to False information with intent to bribe a public officer to do an act to the prejudice of another person 6.
Section 248 of BNS concerns oneself with false charge of offense made with intention to cause injury.
Section 227 of .BNS, is related to providing false evidence.

Hence, Section 237 of BNS, use as true similar protestation knowing it to be false.

Section 231 of BNS, relates with providing or forging false evidence with a motive to secure a conviction of an offense that is penalized with imprisonment for life or imprisonment.

With the help of these laws wrongly connected person can get rid of fake cases and also can make sure that the person filing fake cases can also be punished. The major principle pushing to justice is the adage that one is innocent until proven shame faced. This presuming will serve to ensure that people are not falsely penalized where the grounds are not well substantiated and that trials are in fact equal. This concept has sourced from a Latin sentence that says, ‘Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat’, which means that the evidence is with the execution, to show that the accused is shame faced than the accused has to prove that he is guilty. By this testament therefore, we can preserve the sanctity of our Judicial system.

Case laws :

Gurugram False Rape Case

One of them is Bismin Taskeen, a woman from Gurugram who has filed seven rape cases against seven men between 2019 and 2021. But in December 2021, she was arrested for extorting money from people after she was found to have been reporting her clients with fake rape charges. According to the report, Taskeen blackmailed the accused men for money, telling them she would report them to the police for rape. The police noted that she had made contradictions in her statements and charged her with plotting to defraud her victims of large amounts of money. This case cause some problem in the use of the legal sections that are supposed to empower women as well as the consequences of filing a fake report.

Shivashankar @ Shiva vs State of Karnataka

In this case, decided in 2018, the Supreme Court of India dropped rape charges against a man who had been in a relationship with the complainant for eight years. The court held that where there is sexual intercourse between two individuals within a long standing relationship while one party has promised marriage it cannot be considered as rape particularly where the complain

The court pointed out that a false promise of marriage by itself does not amount to rape unless the accused can be proven to have made the promise with no intention of marrying the complainant. The judgment also stressed that when dealing with rape cases especially those between partners with a long relationship history, then consideration should be made on the type of relationship the two had.

Dhruvaram Murlidhar Sonar vs The State of Maharashtra

Criminal Appeal No. 1443 of 2018 the Supreme Court of India had to consider the matter of whether the act of sexual intercourse based on a false promise of The appellant, Dhruvaram Murlidhar Sonar, had allegedly proposed marriage to the complainant, had sexual intercourse with her and then went back on his word. The court then moved on to the next concern of whether the promise of marriage was made in good faith and if the marriage could not go through

The court stated that not all cases where a promise to marry was broken would amount to the rape. The question is whether the promise was made fraudulently, that is with the intention of deceiving. Here, the court held that there was a consensual relationship, and there were no elements of fraud that can be attributed to either of the parties. Therefore the appeal was granted and the conviction was quashed12.

Conclusion

Rape is a serious criminal act; it is required for the victims to receive justice but simultaneously, it is required to ensure that our legal system does not create adverse impact on the purity existent by chance. In order to do this, our judicial system should be very careful in handling similar serious cases.

There is a need to achieve justice for real victims and provide protection to the rights of the wrongfully involved as well. This principle of ‘INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY’ should be implemented in order to assist the unlawful detriment. Some of the questions, which may be asked include “Should there be new strict laws formulated to deal with fake rape cases and at the same time protect the rights of the genuine victims of rape?”