PROPOSED SYNOPSIS FOR DISSERTATION

ISHAN AHMAD 17MLW005

Semester III LL.M.

TOPIC:
INCREASE IN REGISTRATION OF RAPE CASES IN DELHI BUT THE DICREASE IN
CONVICTION RATE SIMULTANEOUSLY…A MISUSE RATHER THAN USE...

INTRODUCTION:
In the whole universe, it has been considered that the most pious creature made by God is the
woman only. Woman is considered to be the foundation of any home. Be it the mother or Wife
or the daughter, woman makes a man and his family complete. But today what is happening
that the woman is not safe at all. Her dignity is always at the sake. Be it the neighbour or
sometimes the family members only who give a woman or a girl such heinous pain not only to
his bod but also to his soul. In a country where females are worshipped in the form of goddesses
like Maa Durga, Maa Kali, Maa Saraswati etc. is also a country where they are raped and
brutally molested in the outside world.

The latest data from Delhi police, which is under the central government, shows an increase in
the number of reported rapes every year, while conviction rate in the same period has decreased.
As on May 15, 780 cases of rape were reported - which boils down to an average of over 5
cases each day. Compared to the number of cases in 2017 upto May 15, data shows a 3.03%
increase in the number of rapes reported in the country’s capital.1

The police reports for 2017 and 2018, from January 1 to May 15 in both years, show a drop in
the total number of heinous crimes in Delhi by roughly 5.6%. However, the reported cases of
rape alone, have increased from 757 to 780.

Dangerous disparity between reported rapes and convicted cases;

The number of rapes reported each year in Delhi, as we see, rose 277% from 572 in 2011 to
2,155 in 2016, according to Delhi Police data.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, 2016, had revealed that only 1 in every 4
cases of rape ends with conviction. The already-low conviction rate of 29% in 2015, fell In
Delhi alone, 20% cases reported in the first two months of 2018 are still pending trial. The
victim turning “hostile” - that is, to withdraw the case - due to intimidation, is another reason
for the low rates, she pointed out. The long-drawn cases lead to this hostility too; the victim

1
Available at https://www.newsclick.in/rise-reported-rape-cases2018-police-data-reveals
(last visited on 30.11.2018)
tires out. Once the charge sheet is filed and the case goes to trial, there arises a bigger problem
of a “nexus being formed between the public prosecutor, the police and the accused that
collectively works against the victim in order to get the case withdrawn. Moreover, Many
public prosecutors are extremely corrupt and so as the police officers, the working efficiency
of police officers has rather been a matter of considerable scrutiny. 2

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:
The rape allegations have now become a trending crime. As the society changes, the prevalent
crimes in that particular society also changes. Like in the era of 1995 to 2005, the misuse of
sec. 498A I.P.C. and sec. 304B I.P.C. was very common. Later on, the phase was coming where
the kidnaping and abduction were very common crimes. After that there was corruption in
public offices. Nowadays, the rape allegations are very much common in country. The
complaint of the rape cases is very much common. particularly in Delhi, people living in live
in relationships and whenever the girl feels unhappy with her life or when she broke up with
the boy, the simple thing which she has to do is to file a complaint in writing to the police. After
that, all other things shall be taken care by the police only i.e. how to take bribe on the name of
investigation. The considerable part is that although the rate of complaint has been increased
but then also the situation is that ultimate conviction in these types of cases is very
rare.moreover, today with the misuse of this particular offence , the courts are also considering
the need of the hour. The courts also understand that many a times this type of litigation is
because of the result of agitation or anger for the guy. So, today, the sessions courts are granting
even the anticipatory bail to the accused of this particular offence provided the other facts and
circumstances also corroborate towards the innocence of accused. It may be the evidence
collection by the I.O. (investigating officer) or the conduction of trial by the public prosecutor
or the judicial prudence of the sitting judge, the conviction in rape cases is considered to be
very difficult task. Sometimes the prosecutrix herself turned to be hostile at her chief evidence
stage, so in such type of situations the conviction will be there.

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY:

2
Available at
http://ncrb.gov.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2016/pdfs/Crime%20Statis
tics%20-%202016.pdf (last visited on 01.12.2018)
Objectives of the study would be to bring light to the following:
1. To Elucidate on the issue why there is a rapid growth in filing of rape cases of age group of
20 to 25 years of girls especially in Delhi region.

2. To Understand the reasons responsible for the very low rate of conviction in these types of
offences and how to improvise the situation?
3. The role played by police in the whole trial process i..e. from the registration of F.I.R. to
the recording of evidence. It is the I.O. statement which can modify the whole case.

4. To evaluate the role of lower judiciary in convicting the real culprit in the offences of rape?

HYPOTHESIS:
1. The high rate of registration of F.I.R.and the decreasinging rate of conviction in rape
offences proves that the initial complaints are mostly in the form of agitation only.
2. Police does not do an effective work in cases of this offence. they work very reluctantly.
3. The considerable number of cases in which the prosecutrix herself becomes hostile in her
chief examination shows that the intention while registering the F.I.R. is these cases might
only be the extortion of money.

4. Forensic evidence, even in the cases of prosecutrix turning hostile, may be the sole ground
of convicting the accused.

FOCUS OF STUDY:
The focus of the study is to understand the reasons behind the low conviction rate in rape cases
in Delhi area despite the fact that the complaint registration of this offence has been
considerably increased.

METHODOLOGY:
The methodology to be adopted shall be mixed type. Various reports, books, journals and
articles have been referred for this study. The study shall be exploratory in nature. Also various
learned persons will be interviewed for the result of this dissertation. Like, presiding officers
of the special courts dealing with these type of cases. Also the public prosecutors and the
various practicing lawyers in this particular filed will be interviewed. Also various specialised
police officers will be taken help in regard to the various challenges faced by them while dealing
with these type of cases.

CHAPTERIZATION:
1. Introduction
1.1 Legislation regarding rape offences
1.2 Registration of F.I.R. in rape charges: privilege or weapon?

2. Registration of F.I.R.
2.1 Real cases are few, fake cases are very prevalent
2.2 Reasons responsible for considerable number of increase in fake complaint
2.3 Investigation done by police in rape offences
3. Rising cases of acquittal than of conviction
3.1 Reasons responsible for the more acquittal than the conviction
3.2 Diluting “the heinousness” in rape cases
3.3 Changing approach of judiciary

4. Empirical work
4.1 Interview of Ld. Session Judge
4.2 Interview of Ld. Public Prosecutor
4.3 Interview of specialist litigator
4.4 Interview of specialist police officer
5. Victimization by victim
6. Rape should be considered as the unhealable wound
7. Conclusion
7.1 Result of hypothesis
8. Bibliography
OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Madhumita Pandey, Doctoral Researcher - Criminology, Anglia Ruskin University,in her

article on sexual offences aganist the women increasing day by day titled as “I interviewed
convicted rapists in New Delhi – and then found one of their young victims”. In which she
interviewed various rapists confined in Tihar Jail and undergoing their sentences. The author
also interviewed some victims and has tried to bring in light the actual reasons behind the
growing rate of commission of these offences.3

Dhruv Dikshit , in his article titled as False Accusation Of Rape and Punishment For
False Accusation In India discussed the various reasons behind the false allegations of this
heinous crime and the various punishments provided under the statutes for this particular
offence.4

Aditya Sharma in his article titled as The abuse of rape laws is far too rampant in India
Talked about the various loop holes in the investigation done by police and the various reasons
responsible for the misuse of rape law in our country.5

havya Dore in his article Rape laws: A call for change talks about the misuse of rape laws by
the fraudulently misuse of this particular offence by the women simply in the heat of passion.
The misuse of rape laws leads to the hourly need of certain modifications in rape law on
emergent basis.6

Rukmani S. in her article The many shades of rape cases in Delhi talked about the actual
reasons behind the registration of F.I.R. of rape offence in huge number but later on why do
most of them either get acquitted or the prosecutrix herself get hostile. The author very
elaborately talked about the main reasons behind this particular trend.7

Taj Hasan Special Commissioner of Police in his article Crime in Delhi talked about the
situation of women safety in Delhi and the main challenges which the police has to face on
daily basis. He also talked about the need of better implementation of the laws and the role

3
Madhumita Pandey, I interviewed convicted rapists in New Delhi –
and then found one of their young victims, available at
http//:www.theconversation.com (last visited on 10.11.2018)
4
Dhruv Dikshit in False Accusation Of Rape and Punishment For
False Accusation In India available at https://blog.ipleaders.in/false-
accusation-rape (last visited on 10.11.2018)
5
Aditya Sharma in the abuse of rape laws is far too rampant in India,
available at http://www.dnaindia.in (visited on 10.11.2018)
6
Bhavya Dhore in Rape laws: A call for change available at
https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp.com (visited on 10.11.2018)
7
Rukmani S. in The many shades of rape cases in Delhi available at
https://www.thehindu.com/articles/ (visited on 10.11.2018)
played by the prosecution in proving the accused guilty in any particular case of crime against
women.8

Chaitanya Mallapur in his article Delhi saw 277% rise in reported rape cases in 5 years;
govt initiatives falter, funds underutilised talked about the reasons behind the growing
number of complaints of rape cases despite the fact that government is spending a huge amount
of money on it. 9

Joanna Jolly in his article Does India have a problem with false rape claims? very
elaborately talked about the problem of growing rate of false rape allegations in India. He also
talked about various motives behind alleging a false rape allegation against any particular
person then the extortion of money in lieu of taking the complaint back or becoming hostile.10

BOOK REVIEW

Public Secrets of Law: Rape Trials in India authored by Pratiksha Baxi (first edition 2014)

Public Secrets of Law describes the everyday socio-legal processes that underlie the making of
rape trials in Indian courts.

Based on an ethnographic project in the rural District and Sessions Court in Delhi as well as
critical readings of the juridical archive, this book demonstrates how rape trials furnish scripts
of the social via the judicialized bodies of violated women. Sexual violence in general, and rape
in particular, is under-reported in India. The social stigma associated with rape is the biggest
hurdle that a rape survivor faces right from the time of reporting the matter to the police to the
stage of trial. This book, one of the first ethnographic studies of rape trials in India, focuses on
the everyday socio-legal processes that underlie the making of rape trials. It describes how state
law is transformed in its localization, often to the point of bearing little resemblance to written
law.

The work centres around four extended case studies in a trial court in Delhi. These case studies
show how the effects of power and knowledge congeal to disqualify women's (and children's)
testimonies at different sites of state law such as the police station, forensic science laboratory,
or the hospital and the court.

8
Taj Hassan in Crime in Delhi available at
http://delhipolice.nic.in/Crime_in_Delhi2015 (visited on 10.11.2018)
9
Chaitanya Mallapur in Delhi saw 277% rise in reported rape cases
in 5 years; govt initiatives falter, funds underutilised available at
http://www.firstpost.com/india (viited on 11.12.2018)
10
Joanna Jolly in Does India have a problem with false rape claims?
available at https://www.bbc.com/magazine (visited on 11.12.2018)
This book describes multiple ways in which public secrecy is subjected to specific revelations
in rape trials that do not bring justice to a rape survivor but address and reinforce deeply
entrenched phallocentric notions of justice.

Bringing sociological insights to the contested and anguishing issue of rape trials, this book is
an essential read for all those committed to a just and safe society for women in India.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

A. Books
1. Public secrets of law: rape trials in India, Pratiksha Baxi, (New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2014).
2. Discretion, discrimination and the rule of law: reforming rape sentencing in India
Mrinal Satish (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2017)
3. Discretion, discrimination and the rule of law: reforming rape sentencing in India
Mrinal Satish (New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2017)
4. Rape Laws in India, Dipa Dube (LexisNexis Butterworths India, 2008)
5. Rape: a social and sexual tragedy, Rajendra Mohan Bhatnagar (Delhi : Indian
Publishers' Distributors, 2004)

B. Articles
1. Madhumita Pandey, “I interviewed convicted rapists in New Delhi – and then found
one of their young victims,” theconversation,2017
2. Dhruv Dikshit in “False Accusation Of Rape and Punishment For False Accusation In
India”, 2018
3. Aditya Sharma “The abuse of rape laws is far too rampant in India”, dnaindia,
November 2017
4. Bhavya Dhore “Rape laws: A call for change”, http://www.livemint.com,2018
5. Rukmani S. “The many shades of rape cases in Delhi”, the Hindu march 2018
6. Taj Hassan, Addl. Superintendent of Police “Crime in Delhi”, Annual Police
Review,2015
7. Chaitanya Mallapur “Delhi saw 277% rise in reported rape cases in 5 years; govt
initiatives falter, funds underutilised”, www.firstpost.in,2017
8. Joanna Jolly “Does India have a problem with false rape claims?” Bbcnews Review
2017