CHIEF Justice of India Altamas Kabir infused a fresh perspective on the issue of crime against women in the country that has hit the headlines with the gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in New Delhi in December 2012.
The young girl died subsequently at a Singapore hospital. Her body was brought back to India and cremated recently.
Inaugurating the first of the five newly announced fast-track courts set up here to try cases related to sexual offence against women, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir said rape was not just a “crime against the body but it is also a crime against the soul.”
Justice Kabir’s observation is pertinent because of till date nobody has talked about the violence and hurt committed against the soul of a rape victim by the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
He said he appreciated people’s anger over rape but warned against letting it overwhelm the due process of law.
“People’s reaction has been that do not send the accused to trial. Hand them over to us, we will deal with them or hang them. But let us not get carried away. A swift trial should not be at the cost of a fair trial,” he told members of the judicial fraternity at the Saket District Court Complex. He added: “Let us not lose sight of the fact that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty”.
Appreciating the government for the fast-track courts, he said: “The perpetrators of such crimes should be brought to justice as quickly as possible.”
He said that while handling such cases one has to understand the trauma of a rape victim.
“It is not a crime against the body but it is also a crime against the soul,” he said.
Justice Kabir said that the gang-rape case could have been averted had the Supreme Court guidelines on tinted glasses in vehicles been strictly imposed. Justice Kabir said the root of the problem of sexual violence against women should be found. “Blame game will not serve anything”, he said.
