New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday criticised the “two-finger” test to determine rape and sexual assault and warned that people conducting such tests would be held guilty of misconduct.
A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said it was unfortunate that this test continues till today.
The bench observed: “This court has time and again deprecated the use of two-finger test in cases alleging rape and sexual assault. It is regrettable that it continues to be conducted even today. The so-called test has no scientific basis. It instead re-victimises and re-traumatises women. The two finger test must not be conducted… The test is based on an incorrect assumption that sexually-active woman cannot be raped. Nothing can be further from the truth.”
The bench added: “The probative value of a woman’s testimony does not depend on her sexual history. It is patriarchal and sexist to suggest that a woman cannot be believed when she states that she was raped merely because she is sexually active.”
The bench directed governments, central and states, to ensure that guidelines of the Department of Health and Family Welfare (which prescribes the two-finger test) were circulated to all government and private hospitals.
The bench further directed that workshops be conducted for health providers to establish the appropriate procedure while examining survivors of sexual assault.
It also said medical curriculums should be reviewed to exclude the two-finger test while examining victims of assault.
The order was passed by the bench while restoring the conviction against an accused in a sexual assault case.
The Supreme Court in 2013 had deemed the two-finger test as unconstitutional, and prohibited its practice.
The test, also called the “virginity test”, and “per-vaginum examination” in medical terms, was aimed at checking the presence or absence of hymen and whether the vaginal muscles were loose or not, to gauge sexual assault.
Social advocates have held the test was unscientific because the hymen can rupture due to several reasons other than intercourse.
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