HC dismisses plea claiming misuse of rape laws

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea which had claimed that the changes made to the rape laws in 2013 and 2018 were being misused by public at large and sought directions to set aside the amendments.

Madhu Purnima Kishwar, a social activist, had challenged the constitutional validity of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013 and 2018, especially the changes made in sections 375 (rape) and 376 (punishment for rape) of IPC, on the ground that they were "prone to gross abuse and misuse by women with ulterior motives" as the sole testimony of the prosecutrix even if not corroborated by medical evidence was enough to convict the accused.

The amendments included, increasing the minimum punishment from seven years to 10 and maximum up to death penalty, raising from 16 years to 18 years the age of consent by a girl for physical relations and that the consent of the woman has to be absolute and cannot be established by circumstantial evidence.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and .