Incest in india

30th April 2009 - The expose of a father's sexual abuse of his daughter for nine years in Mira Road(Mumbai) has opened a Pandora's box of similar cases of incest across the country. Increasingly, this is also shedding light on the legal system's shortcomings in dealing with incest, as well as on social attitudes that hinder effective solutions.

The Indian legal statutes do not contain any specific provisions against incest. Many developed countries such as Britain, the US and Germany have strong laws against incest. UK, which made incest punishable in 1908, sets a prison term of 12 years for the offence. Punishment in the US varies from one state to another; extending to 20 years in the state of Massachusetts, while in Hawaii it is five years. Some countries have, however, abolished or diluted their laws against incest - this is invariably because many of them viewed sexual partnerships between closely related persons - even adults - as incestuous, and in recent years there has been some liberalisation of their views on this. Incest involving minors, on the other hand, is uniformly frowned upon in the developed world (and is also the specific focus of this article).

As everywhere else in the world, in India too incestuous conduct is almost never consensual. Instead, it is rooted in physical force as well as familiar and other power which the abuser uses to pressure his victim. Nor is child abuse by parents and other elders confined to a single political ideology or to one economic system. It transcends barriers of age, class, language, caste, community, sex and even family. The only commonality is power, which triggers and feeds incest in families. This power is multiplied several times over when the relationship between the abuser and the abused is of father and daughter. Disbelief, denial and cover-up to 'preserve the family reputation' are often then placed above the interests of the child and its abuse.

Some years ago, in a popular late-night legal-awareness television serial Bhramar, one episode explored the true case of a father impregnating his 14-year-old daughter after abusing her sexually for months together while the mother was forced to remain silent. For fear of a public scandal, the parents decided to poison the girl. The paternal grandfather, the sole witness to the murder, complained to the police. But the perpetrator went scot-free on the argument that he had other children to care for, and if he were to go to prison, they would be orphaned! When the criminal was set free, the older man left the home and was never seen again.

A 1985 study by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences revealed that one out of three girls and one out of 10 boys had been sexually abused as a child. Fifty per cent of child sexual abuse happens at home. In 1996, Samvada, a Bangalore-based NGO, conducted a study among 348 girls. 15 per cent were used for masturbation mostly by male relatives when they were less than 10 years old. Seventy- five per cent of the abusers were adult family members.

Most people imagine abusers to be shadowy and frightening strangers with a psychiatric disorder. In fact, often an abuser is a 'regular' person who leads a 'routine' life and is known to the victim, but has no inhibition or qualms over having sex with children. This was proved to be true in the Mira Road case. Neighbours and local residents who know Chauhan well were shocked because he appeared to be a decent and well-behaved person.

Let's have a look at the legal loopholes in our system. (Points taken from a website)
* There is no central law on child abuse.
* Laws dealing with sexual offences do not specifically address child sexual abuse.
* The India Penal Code 1860 does not recognise child abuse. Only rape and sodomy can lead to criminal conviction.
* Anything less than rape, as defined by the law, amounts to 'outraging the modesty.' These laws are already problematic when applied to adult women. They are even more difficult when applied to children.
* While sec. 376 IPC seeks to provide redress against rape to women, it rarely covers the broad range of sexual abuse (particularly of children), that actually takes place.
* Most of these forms of abuse are sought to be covered under sec. 354 of the Indian Penal Code as a violation of a woman's modesty. Though offences under Sec. 354 of the IPC are cognizable, they are also bailable, allowing the perpetrator to abscond before the case comes up in court.
* The Juvenile Justice Act, amended and rewritten in 2000, makes no attempt to identify sexual abuse on children. Sec. 23 of the Act deals with assault, exposes, willful neglect, mental and physical suffering, for which imprisonment prescribed, is only for 6 months.
* Section 5 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956 prescribes punishment of not less than 7 years for inducing a child into prostitution, but does not directly address child abuse.
* The word 'rape' within law, is too specific because it does not include abuse on boys.
* 'Intercourse' is often interpreted to mean with an 'adult' and almost always implies 'consensual' sex.

People need to realize and accept incest as a part of our society that happens in every socio-economic group. Closing our eyes and getting into the denial mode will not make the problem go away. We need to spread the word at a mass level where people are made aware not only about its existence but also about the help available. Workshops in schools and colleges that highlight such problems should be conducted for children and teachers to become more sensitized. Parents need to be educated about how they can protect their children or help those who have suffered. We need to take the responsibility of educating each other, reaching out to each other and take active steps to stop this physical, psychological and social pain that gets inflicted upon innocent lives.

Incest, will persist as long as the collective conspiracy of silence within the family, the state and the society allows it to go on.