State's failure to convince IIM-C rape victim to cooperate in probe: legal experts

Kolkata, July 23 (IANS) After the victim refused to come forward in the alleged IIM-C rape case, the legal experts in Kolkata have said that it is primarily the failure of the West Bengal Police and administration, as they were unable to convince her to extend basic cooperation in the investigation process.

The accused in the case, a second-year student of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C), was granted bail by a lower court last week mainly on grounds of the non-cooperation by the victim like refusal to get her statements recorded in front of a judicial magistrate, refusing to get her medico-legal examination conducted and finally refusing to handover the clothes that she was wearing at the time of alleged incident to the investigating officials.

The victim’s family also did not hire any counsel to represent them in the case, unlike the R.G.Kar rape-murder case and the Kasba Law College rape case. The family members of the IIM-C victim have left the entire matter to the public prosecutor. On Wednesday, IIM-C authorities allowed the accused to resume his classes. However, he would not be allowed to stay in the campus hostel.

Senior advocate of Calcutta High Court, Kaushik Gupta, told IANS that it is the primary responsibility of the state to convince her to come forward and record her statement. “There can be multiple reasons why she is not cooperating with the investigation process. Societal pressure could be one such reason, while we cannot rule out the possibility of fear in pursuing a lengthy legal battle. Has she lost her faith in the present system? Despite saying this, the state must help her with a counsellor or a psychologist and convince her to come forward. The state must provide her with a witness protection scheme," said Gupta.

Calcutta High Court advocate Firdous Shamim also pointed out that the state cannot shy away from its duty in the matter. "It is a state versus person case. Here, the state is bound to perform its duty of prosecuting the case on behalf of the complainant. It is the failure of the state if the victim is not receiving any support from the government. The state must provide the complainant protection and legal help," said Shamim.

He added that sometimes the victim also refuses to come forward due to societal taboos and fear of being recognised as a rape victim. "Now, if she fails to turn up, then this could be considered malicious prosecution. Then the complainant could be prosecuted later for lodging a false case against the accused," cautioned Shamim.

Speaking to IANS, Calcutta High Court advocate Sabnam Sultana said that in a case like this, it is very important for the victim to record her statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

“There are multiple possibilities why she is not doing it. But it is very important for the recording of her statement. If not, then this would make a big impact on the case. The accused may be acquitted in the absence of sufficient evidence against him. The state must help her in this regard and encourage her to come forward," she said.

At the same time, the three advocates that IANS spoke to did not rule out the possibility of an out-of-the-court understanding being arrived at in the matter.

--IANS

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