Yet another rape case

The Malayalam film industry got national attention again with a woman (Y) accusing a man (X) of rape. The very same day, X revealed the identity of Y through Facebook. Quite naturally, supporters of X endorsed his illegal act. I do not support X or his act. But there is something here that needs our attention.

Let it be made very clear that women and their concerns are something that I identify with very often. Let me share a recent observation by a bench in Karnataka High Court in a case “A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man the ‘husband’ on the woman ‘wife’,”. That quite sums up my take on rape.

In a rape case, the woman is identified as a victim or survivor. Because of the social prejudices, victimization and ostracization, special rights are granted to victims by law. ‘Noone should reveal the identity of the victim or survivor’ is one such right. It is a right that intends to secure the life of the victim or survivor.

But, what if a woman decides to malign the reputation of a man with a rape case. In such a case, this special right becomes a weapon for the criminal.

Yes, such instances could be rare and I buy the argument that a woman would not take such an extreme step because of the social stigma attached to it. But is that so?

Let us look at another case in the Malayalam Film industry. Leading actor Dileep is accused of an abduction and rape case which is under trial. Recently police started investigating a new case in which Dileep is accused of conspiring to kill police officers who put him behind bars for 85 days in the rape case. In this new case, Dileep’s estranged friend and film director Balachandrakumar is a key witness. In a few days of this new case, a woman filed a complaint accusing Balachandrakumar of raping her 10 years ago.

The woman here must be a survivor and would have a valid complaint. But, what if she filed this complaint to tarnish the image and credibility of a key witness in another prominent case. The case against Balachandrakumar undoubtedly gives Dileep and his advocates an edge in the court. What if, Dileep is exonerated doubting the credibility of the witness and later Balachandrakumar is found to be innocent in the rape case?

There have been a few fake rape cases from Kerala - a Sub-Inspector framing his daughter as the victim, a case against a health department official, a mother using her minor daughter…. All of them are recent cases. Quashing a false rape case, Kerala High Court had said that “False rape charges deserve equal seriousness”.

We cannot deny the fact the right ensured by law to protect a rape victim can be misused by criminals for extortion and/or to tarnish the reputation of another individual.

If there are no safeguards on misusing rape cases, there could be more instances of X identifying themselves as victims and revealing the identity of Y.