Gauhati HC Grants Bail To Rape Accused IIT Student, Calls Him “State's Future Asset”
By nature of the highly competitive seat that they occupy, students and alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) across India have received many privileges from good placements to easier funding for their startups. But according to a recent decision by the Gauhati High Court, an IIT-Guwahati student accused of rape was granted bail because he is the “state’s future asset.”
As is the law, bail is granted for several reasons but to put the accused on a pedestal simply because of his education and highlight it in such a manner is symptomatic of how women’s safety is not adequately prioritized or considered to be secondary by the legal system of this country. Favoring the rape accused on the basis of his ‘merit’ foregrounds a deep-seated culture that worships institutional elitism.
Reports state that the accused was arrested in April this year after another student alleged that he sexually assaulted her, following which she was admitted to the hospital. The bench led by Justice Ajit Borthakur stated that “there was a clear prima facie case as alleged against the accused”. This indicates that there is enough evidence to proceed to trial or judgment.
The advocate appearing for the accused also commented that the continuation of his detention for the purpose of the trial would amount to causing further damage to his “brilliant academic pursuits.” While he is now allowed to return to his normal life, albeit with certain restrictions, can it undo the damage he may have caused the survivor? Her counsel too, noted this as they opposed the bail, stating that the offense was of a serious nature and was “against society as a whole.”
The statement by the court while granting bail also reeks of elitism. Is a man who is not educated or not meritorious enough to be an IIT student not worthy to be considered for bail?
This is not the first time that the judiciary has been criticized for its decisions regarding those accused of sexual crimes. In 2020, the Karnataka High Court granted bail to a man accused of rape after it expressed reservations about the genuineness of the complaint. “The explanation offered by the complainant that after the perpetration of the act she was tired and fell asleep, is unbecoming of an Indian woman," Justice Krishna S Dixit observed. "This is not the way our women react when they are ravished," the judge said. The court said that the complainant had shared drinks with the accused and stayed in the office together late into the night; they added that the complainant should have filed a case earlier.
Where patriarchy meets law
Social media was also rife with rumors that the survivor had falsified her accusations, an argument that many ‘men’s rights activists' have constantly brought up. But, data compiled from the National Family Health Survey and National Crime Records Bureau between 2014-2016 showed that nearly 99% of sexual assaults are unreported.
In a country like ours where families often prevent women and girls from pursuing legal action against abusers, the obstacles can begin early on. Even the process of filing an FIR and going through the legal rigmarole has often been described as harrowing, these cases can also go on for years on end which makes survivors less inclined to want to follow through. With such long-term hassles, stigmatization of survivors and moral policing, the probability of people making false claims in these kinds of cases can safely be assumed to be on the lower end.
The trial will continue as the complainant and the accused return to their studies. The former was suspended by the IIT authorities after the initial complaint, but it remains to be seen how the institution will manage this precarious situation. In April, IIT-Guwahati had put out a statement reading, “The institute condemns such heinous acts in the strongest possible terms. The institute is also putting in place enhanced safety and security measures to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.” But more often than not, measures implemented by educational institutions look to police women rather than educate and sensitize men. Engineering colleges especially have long been male bastions and need radical change to better navigate the gender skew.
Read more: Why The Rape And Murder Of A Dalit Girl Eats Away At Our Collective Conscience
At the time of granting bail, the judge also called the complainant “a future asset of the state.” Had that same seriousness been given to her future, perhaps the decision would have been different and the man accused of grievously assaulting her would not be allowed to return to the same campus as her, posing not just a threat to her but also being a stark example of how the judiciary continues to wash men off the burden of their misdeeds.
(Edited by Sanhati Banerjee)
