A woman can never lie when it comes to the matter of Sexual abuse and rape. This is what the constitution of India and the respected lawmakers of the nation believe. But in the recent past, there have been numerous examples that have shown us the misuse of these ‘Women Safety Laws.’ A new addition to this set is the high profile case involving the Seer of Sri Ramachandrapur Mutt Shree Raghaveshwara Bharathi Shri Swamiji. The case which was filed in August 2014 by the Ramakatha singer Premalatha Divakar got a lot of media attention. The Seer, the Mutt, and the followers were subjected to a lot of emotional trauma. The plaintiff had accused that the Seer had repeatedly raped her in a number of occasions (a whopping 169 times!!) in a span of 3 years from 2011 to 2014, and she had also claimed that she had evidence to support her claims. The Seer was under both political and social pressure. A lot of defamation of the Mutt and the Seer himself were done and many organizations came in support of plaintiff. But after the trials were over the reality of the lawsuit came out. The court did not find anything concrete in the case filed and the accusation made and the charges against the defendant Sri Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swamiji were declared to be baseless.
This case is just an example. The above mentioned had a very high social profile. He had a large number of followers and he was matured and strong enough to handle these allegations, live with it and fight it. What if these incidents happen with a common man who has little or no financial and social support? Imagine the amount of Trauma he faces, the money he spends to defend himself. Imagine the way people and the society treat him through the course of the trial, the embarrassment he and his family faces. The pressure and the humiliation can be too high that the person may emotionally breakdown and even end up committing suicide to run away from these incidents. Who becomes responsible for his death, and actions will be taken against them? What happens to the complainant who filed a fake case and being responsible for the person’s trauma and social downfall? Should she be let free only because she is a woman? On the other hand, what justifies years of valuable court time wasted in trials of this kind.
A report by the delhi commission of Women (DCW) highlights a statistical observation. “53.2% of the rape cases filed between April 2013 and July 2014 in Delhi were found false. Now the question is what is to be done to those who file fake cases like this. These women stand in as a threat to the society as well as to the other women. Women who misuse such laws for their personal benefits pose a serious problem to the law and the rules of the Nation we live in. Therefore, it is necessary to prosecute such women. This could act as an inhibitive measure to stop them from filing fake complaints
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