Unmasking Injustice: The Truth Behind False Rape Allegation

ABSTRACT

Rape, the four-letter word that itself sends a shiver down the spine. Recognized as a despicable assault on both the physical and emotional integrity of an individual, leaving lasting wounds on their psyche and spirit. Beyond the physical violation, rape inflicts profound emotional trauma, eroding trust and instilling fear. Rape is characterized as “non-consensual sexual intercourse with a woman, achieved through coercion, deception, or when the individual is incapacitated due to intoxication or manipulation, or if the victim is under the age of 18.”

Such a heinous crime has been increasing tremendously, and more crucially, there’s a rapid rise in fake rape cases in India which is somewhere a big concern, not for only the falsely accused but also for the actual rape victims.

In recent years, the incidence of false rape accusations has been increasing at an alarming rate, raising significant legal, social and ethical implications. Laws that were made to protect women are incentivizing women to use these as tools to exploit for personal gain, extortion, revenge, or intimidation, essentially saying, “Watch what I can do to you.”

INTRODUCTION

Rape is defined as one of the most heinous crimes which don’t only effect victims physically, but also mentally and emotionally.

In recent years, false rape cases have gained significant attention within legal circles, media discourse, and societal dialogue. While rape is itself a heinous crime, the increasing case of false rape allegations has brought forth a complex array of legal, social, and ethical dilemmas. This has sparked heated debates, raised critical questions regarding justice, and concern, and left long-lasting scars on the lives of not only the falsely accused, but also on the society at large.

The 2012 Nirbhaya case has been one of the scariest and biggest rape. Many people protested and demanded the new and strict law provision for rape and sexual assault. The Government gave in the public pressure and within one month the new Criminal Law Amendment was passed.

After that, an amendment bill was introduced, which was named The Criminal Amendment Act, 2013; also known as The Nirbhaya Act, 2013. The bill was passed and the Nirbhaya Act, of 2013 amended the punishment for such kinds of crimes and others. Justice Verma Committee was formed which made various recommendations to bring in strict laws to prevent such heinous crimes and to protect the women and provide them with a sense of safety. These recommendations were included in the Indian Penal Code 2013. However, some women have started using the protections as a weapon for their own gain.

Rape has been so normalized in the society that even the false accusations, which was once considered rare, have become alarmingly common in legal proceedings. Such accusations are often fueled by motives ranging from personal revenge to financial greed, thus tarnishing the integrity of the judiciary system.

Delhi High Court expressed worry over the alarming increase of false rape cases, “Such cases are registered only to arm-twist the accused and make them succumb to the demands of the complainant”

SECTION 375 OF THE IPC

Rape is been defined in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code.

Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code defines rape as “sexual intercourse with a woman against her will, without her consent, by coercion, misrepresentation or fraud or at a time when she has been intoxicated or duped or is of unsound mental health and in any case if she is under 18 years of age.” 

It’s rape if it falls under the following categories:

1. against her will.
2. without her consent.
3. 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.
4. With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married.
5. 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 is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she gives consent.
6. with or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age. Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse necessary to the offence of rape.

STATISTIC DATA

An investigation by Rukmini S in The Hindu in 2014, for instance, looked at nearly 600 rape cases recorded in Delhi and found that the largest proportion of the cases were those involving eloped couples, an allegedly consenting couple. In 174 of 189 such cases, after the couples had eloped, the parents – usually the girl’s, who in most cases were between 15 and 18 years of age – filed a police complaint alleging she was kidnapped and raped. This is significant, given how prevalent endogamy is in the country, and inter-community relationships are not favored.

In 123 of the 583 rape cases considered for the above report, the complainant had either turned hostile, stopped attending the trial, or retracted her statement saying she had filed a false rape case. “While it is likely that some of this is on account of the pressure exerted on women to withdraw complaints – in two cases, the complainants referred to community members intervening in their depositions – in several others, the complainant said that she had filed a false case for money or as a result of a property dispute,” Rukmini wrote.

As per National Crime Record Bureau (NRCB) Report, 2019, more than 1,25,657 men were acquitted from the gender-biased laws, which is 3 times more than the combined case registered.

Another report from NCRB states that out of all the registered rape cases, about 74% of the accused were acquitted of rape charges, which means that out of almost 31,667 rape cases, 23,440 were fake.

In 2023, the director general of police (DGP) Umesh Mishra stated that up to 45% of registered rape cases are false.

WHY FAKE RAPE CASES ARE INCREASING

The false rape cases are rising at an alarming rate which is a big concern, not only for the falsely accused but also the whole society and it’s a big question for our judiciary system. The major reason for such a rise is the law itself. After the Nirbhaya Act 2013 was passed for striking the provision for rape and sexual assault

Experts consider the most significant reason for the increasing trend in fake rape cases to be the feeling of revenge.

Psychological and mental health factors can also be responsible for registering false rape cases. People also file fake rape cases due to psychological issues like attention seeking, desire for sympathy, greed and to escape responsibility for their actions.

SUPREME COURT RULINGS

1. Naim Ahamad vs. State
2. Gurmail Singh vs. State of Punjab and Another on January 2022
3. Hari Om vs. State (N.C.T) in 2010
4. Arvind Kumar and Another vs. State of UP in December 2020
5. Sejal Sharma vs. State of Haryana on September, 2021
6. Maheshwar Tigga vs. State of Jharkhand

LIST OF FALSE CASES

Following is the list of some false rape cases in India-

1. 20 year old files a false rape case

The current case is deeply disturbing, involving a 20-year-old English Honors student at Delhi University. The accused girl was arrested based on a complaint from the mother of one of the accused men, alleging blackmail. It’s revealed that the girl was operating a syndicate, extorting money by falsely accusing men of rape. She filed 7 rape cases in 7 different police stations against different men.

2. Madhya Pradesh woman gets 10 years rigorous imprisonment for false rape complaint

A 45-year-old woman has been convicted for filing a false rape case against a relative. Convict, Seema Bai was on bail, but after the verdict, she was taken to prison immediately. She filed a false rape case against the 33-year-old son of her brother-in-law so that she could grab property. Later, during the investigation, found that she produced wrong evidence in the trial and the accusation was false.

3. Fake rape case against Gurugram men

A 22-year-old woman had filed a rape case against two men. She also extorted Rs 2 lakh from them which was transferred to her bank account by the brother of one of the victims. She also demanded Rs 4 lakh more from them. Later during the investigation, police found that she had also filed a similar case in Delhi earlier.

4. 9 fake rape cases against 9 men in one year to extort money

Ayushi Bhatia, a BA (Hons) student at Atma Ram College was arrested by Gurugram police in a; honey trapping case’ She filed nine fake rape cases against nine men in 14 months, purportedly to extort money from them. The Punjab and Haryana High Court denied her bail and noted that the petitioner was running a racket for extortion of money from the person against whom she had made allegations.

10. Indore teen filed false gang-rape case against 5 men.

Indore 19-year-old girl filed a rape case against five men alleging that she was abducted and gang-raped by them and was thrown on rail tracks. Throughout the investigation, the girl kept changing her statement and after much investigation, it was revealed that she and her inner partner had fabricated the story. Also, she was involved in a similar case earlier as well and got compensation of Rs 2 lakh from the government. So it was quite possible that she hatched a fake scheme to earn some more money.

11. Falsely accused of rape, man released after 20 years of prison

Vishnu Tiwari was accused of a fake rape case by a woman in the year 2000. He was later booked on charges of rape, sexual exploitation, criminal intimidation of IPC and other sections of SC/ST. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2005, he decided to appeal against the verdict in Allahabad (now known as Prayagraj) High Court. After spending 20 years in jail for false accusation of rape, he has now been declared innocent by Allahabad (now known as Prayagraj) High Court.

12. Fake rape gang exposed in Goa

The Special Crime Branch, Goa, uncovered an inter-state racket that involved good-looking girls from poor families. They were being lured with money to file fake rape cases. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Aslam Khan informed, “We have found that it is a big inter-state racket. When girls realize that it is easy money, they don’t leave the racket. It’s a vicious circle; once they are in, there’s no going out.”  This racket was run by two Gujarat women who used the threat of fake rape cases to extort money. The women used to contact clients under the pretext of providing extort services and then threatened them with fake rape cases if they failed to pay. As per the report, they managed to file fake rape cases against some targets.

13. Sarvjeet Singh Bedi Finally acquitted after 4 years of fight

On 23 August 2015, a Delhi University student, Jasleen Kaur shared her ordeal on her Facebook profile along with a photograph of Mr. Sarvjeet Singh Bedi, accusing him of passing vulgar and obscene comments at her and threatening her as she pulled out her phone to take his photo. In her post, Kaur stated that Singh said, “Do whatever you can. Go ahead and complain, then see what I will do.” Her post went viral and Singh was easily arrested by Delhi Police. The case was widely covered by media and Kaur was widely praised. She even got an award of Rs 5000 from Delhi Police and even CM Arvind Kejriwal congratulated her for her bravery. Mr. Bedi claimed that Kaur filed such a false case to become famous. After 4. The verdict was out and Bedi was given a clean chit.

And there are so many such cases..

IMPACT OF FAKE RAPE CASE

 As the number of fake rape cases is increasing at an alarming rate, it’s a big concern not only for the judicial system but for the whole society. The impact of false rape cases extends beyond just the falsely accused as it affects not only them but also the society and justice system too.

Such false cases can have devastating consequences for those who are falsely accused. They may not face only psychological or mental challenges but also societal challenges. It affects not only them mentally, but also destroys their reputation, loss of employment or educational opportunities, social ostracism, and emotional trauma. In some cases, the effect can be long-lasting or for a lifetime, leading to severe psychological distress and financial hardship.

Even there have been cases where individuals gave up on their lives because of such false cases such as

• 30-year-old dies by suicide for getting framed for false rape case- Sandeep, a 30-year-old transporter lent Rs 3 lakh to Sahab Singh, a resident of Alwar. For the past several months, Sandeep has been demanding his money back, but in return, he got a fake rape case registered against himself. Unable to bear mental harassment, Sandeep allegedly hanged himself, leaving behind a suicidal note blaming four for compelling him to take such a step.
• Nagpur man dies by suicide after being blackmailed with a false rape accusation- A 38-year-old Manish was a victim of blackmail and false rape accusation by the family of a 19-year-old girl from his locality. The girl went missing from her home after which Manish was alleged to be responsible for her disappearance. In a live Facebook stream, he claimed that he was being threatened by the girl’s family to implicate a false rape case if he did not pay Rs 5 lakh. Overwhelmed by such unbearable pressure, he died by suicide by jumping into the Kanhan River.
• 17-years-old dies by suicide after being falsely accused of sexual harassment on Instagram stories- 17-year-old Manav Singh ended his life after Bhavleen Kaur posted a story on her Instagram talking about an event that took place two years back accusing the boy of molesting and raping her and she had no proof for so. After her story went viral, Manav received threatening calls and messages and was being harassed by a girl and her friends. He tried to defend himself but no one listened. After this, he was unable to bear the tremendous pressure and committed suicide.
• 46-year-old Vishnu Tiwari, after being acquitted of a false rape case after 20 years of jail, has been coming to terms with a “changed world”.

“I had only heard of phones back then; there were just STD booths. I had never seen mobiles, only heard that they exist”, said Tiwari who was arrested at the age of 23 in 2001. He further said, “Everything has changed now, my village, my district, it feels like it’s a whole new world. The markets and others have changed so much.” He lost his parents and two of his brothers while he was in jail and he got no chance to attend their funerals. He claims that his life has been destroyed and has no idea where to start, “How will start my life now with no education, no skill set, and hardly any family around.”

Such cases pose a significant challenge to the integrity of the justice system. They undermine the public confidence and public trust in the legal process. This also raises a question on the maxim ‘innocent until proven guilty’ as the Court fails to identify the actual culprit and convicts the innocent without proper investigation. Though the court has acquitted some, but still, the time they had spent in jail, has left a mark of a rapist on them and their life. Accused are immediately arrested without properly following the procedure and no matter if he has evidence for his innocence. If a man is charged with section 376, police are bound to arrest him.

CONCLUSION

False rape cases in India have far-reaching consequences, impacting the lives of individuals and families and also the society and judicial system. Such accusations can devastate one’s life and tarnish their reputation. But, women are provided so much power, like498A, Section 375 and 376, Domestic Violence, Stalking, Molestation, Dowry cases, etc. that now they are using it as a tool to fulfill their demands and greed. Sadly, no such protection is provided to those who are falsely accused. The Judge of Rohtak Court remarked, “A false charge of rape is like a death sentence for a dignified man. The fate of such an accusation is similar to the fate of a real victim of rape. A victim of false charges of rape has to remain in deep trauma throughout his life. In such cases, the real victims are not victims of rape, but are the victims of false charges,”

Such a case makes it difficult to identify the genuine victim of rape. The laws were made strict to protect girls, but somewhere we forgot about its consequences. UP rape survivor kills herself when police denied to lodge her complaint against accused as inspector termed the case as false. Even genuine victims have to wait for long. “On the one hand such cases unleash incalculable suffering on the accused, on the other hand, due to such false cases, even genuine victims of rape have to wait long for justice,” Delhi Court stated.

It’s important to bring provision for the men too. We need a movement #MenToo in the era of #MeToo. Proper procedures should be introduced to identify the real culprit and also strict provisions for punishment should be made for those filing fake cases without any gender-discrimination so that there can be a reduction in such cases. In conclusion, it’s important to actually bring equality in such cases and both parties should get an opportunity to keep their facts and then we should decide who is wrong, not by just mere words.