Activist Seema Sakhare (R) with Mathura (L) at an anti-rape rally after the Supreme Court verdict (Source: Stree Atyachar Virodhi Parishad, Nagpur. Reproduced on CNN)
On March 26, 1972, Mathura, an Adivasi girl aged between 14 to 16 years, was allegedly raped in custody by two police officials, Ganpat and Tukaram (castes unreported).
She was an orphan who made her livelihood through domestic work and manual labour, often with an older woman named Nushi. She fell in love with Nushi’s nephew, Ashok Kodape. They developed an intimate relationship and had planned to get married in the future. Their relationship was not accepted by Mathura’s brother, Gama, who filed a complaint against Nushi, her husband Laxman, and Ashok, saying that they had kidnapped her and were forcing her into prostitution.
At around 9 PM on the night of March 26, the three accused along with Mathura were summoned to the Desaiganj police station, where the Head Constable, Baburao recorded their statements, before leaving for dinner and asking them to leave. However, after Baburao left, Ganpat and Tukaram, two constables, asked Mathura to come inside the police station and asked the others to leave.
She was taken inside the police station and the lights were turned off. Ganpat allegedly forced her to accompany him to a latrine, where he raped her. He then took her behind the station, where he raped her again. Tukaram molested her and attempted to rape her too.
After she lodged a complaint, Mathura was subjected to the two-finger test during the medical examination. The two-finger test is an extremely invasive procedure rooted in the logic of victim blame. The doctor noted that there were no injuries on her body, her “hymen revealed old ruptures”, and that “the vagina admitted two fingers easily”. The Sessions judge acquitted the accused, saying that Mathura was a “shocking liar” whose testimony was “riddled with falsehood and improbabilities”. The court said that she was “habituated to sexual intercourse” and was lying about rape in order to appear virtuous before Nushi and Ashok after consenting to sex with the police constables. Although the acquittal was reversed by the High Court, on an appeal to the Supreme Court, the accused were acquitted again in 1978. The Supreme Court referred to the rape as a “peaceful affair”.
References:
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/11/world/india-rape/
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1092711/
https://feminisminindia.com/2015/01/27/from-mathura-rape-case-to-delhi-2012/
