Delhi Crime: A Critical Analysis Of Rape Laws In India

M Vyshnavi, BBA LLB, Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, Symbiosis International University, Pune

ABSTRACT

Rape is one of the most violent and gruesome crimes that could happen to anyone. The physical harm caused by violence and the emotional trauma that a victim undergoes during the crime and its aftermath haunt them throughout their lives. It is a gender-neutral crime and cannot be seen as a crime that could only happen to women like often interpreted by societies. Owing to such inferring, people bring theories like rape culture into the community and let them thrive, affecting people's mindsets. They allow such thoughts about the normalization of rape to be thrust upon them by being a part of such a community. This further gives rise to concepts like sexual objectification and harassment to grow in our societies, control even a child's mind, and direct them into thinking that rape and other violent crimes are okay. Rape has been increasing into becoming one of the most common crimes globally, where with each passing day, the most gruesome nature of this crime is being exposed. Punishments for this horrific crime are different in different countries, but capital punishment is chosen in most countries. Although many cases are reported each year, the Nirbhaya case of 2012 in India was one such case that showed the most violent nature of this crime. A popular Netflix series Delhi Crime, based on the Nirbhaya case, has been chosen as a reference for this paper to bring about an analysis on the current rape laws and the Criminal Law Amendment of 2013, also called the Nirbhaya act.

Keywords: Rape, Rape culture, Delhi Crime, Criminal Law Amendment 2013, Nirbhaya