Protection for sexual assault survivors: Kerala High Court suggests steps, seeks State response

In its bid to boost the victim protection system for sexual assault survivors, the Kerala High Court recently suggested steps to be taken by the State government and sought its response on whether the same could be effectively implemented..Justice Devan Ramchandran made the following suggestions in his order:.1. Publicize the toll free number '112' as an Emergency Response Support System to be known to every citizen, so that a child abuse or sexual violence victim can access it on requirement;2. Feed all information received on the toll free number into a digital system or register which could be relayed as fast as possible to the jurisdictional police station;3. Calls to toll-free numbers will be attended by well-sensitised and trained personnel who will also make sure that the victim is given sufficient support;4. The victim of the child abuse or sexual violence should be contacted via telephone or personally, without summoning him/her to the police station in any manner immediately after information is received by police control room or station;5. Competent officer will thereupon record the statement of the victim, thus leading to registration of FIR under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC);6. During recording of statement, the mandatory provision under CrPC to record it at the place of residence or a place of the victim’s choice as far as practical by a police officer in the presence of parents/guardian/near relatives or social worker shall be complied with;7. Within 24 hours of FIR, the Investigating Officer must assign a Victim Liaison Officer who shall then contact the victim immediately;8. Simultaneously, the Investigating Officer will disclose to the victim the numbers of the 'One Stop Crisis Centre' and that of the 'Victim’s Rights Centre (VRC), who can step in to provide psychological support and ensure no further trauma happens;9. Ensure that the victim has 24 hour access to the Victim Liaison Officer and/or to the One Stop Crisis Centre/VRC;10. The One Stop Crisis Centre/VRC will also offer legal support as may be required to the victim and will work on promoting his/her return to normal life, through every facilitation as may be necessary, for as long as the victim requires or at least until the trial is completed..The Court made it clear that the above suggestions were only preliminary ones, which may be considered and fine tuned by the government. "I am offering this opportunity to the Government because, whatever be the orders that this Court may eventually issue, it will be the system which will have to rise up to the occasion and I therefore, recognise that their inputs in this matter is also very relevant," the order stated..The assistance rendered by Senior Advocate VP Seemanthini, as well as advocates Parvathy Menon, Sandhya Raju and Dheeraj Rajan, was also appreciated by the Court..In November last year, the Court had called for an overhaul of the victim protection system for sexual assault survivors, especially in light of the fact that several survivors are forced to approach the courts seeking police protection, when the same should be afforded to them at the first instance.The issue was taken up by Justice Ramachandran in a plea filed by a sexual assault survivor who had approached the Court alleging harassment not just from the accused, but also from two police officers..While suggesting the guidelines this week, Justice Ramachandran emphasized that guidelines were required to be formulated so that victims of sexual offences and child abuse are able to live life with dignity, without being re-traumatised.“Civilized societies are built on empowerment of citizens - women and children being the most important. It is only if the constitutionally protected requisites of safety and dignity are ensured to the hapless victims of sexual and child abuse, can one ever hope India to achieve the status of being a premier democracy in the world,” Justice Ramachandran emphasized in the order.Before parting with the order, the Court appealed to the media to publicize the toll free number, 112..[Read Order]