judge

By Anil Thakraney (Senior Journalist)

Journalist Tarun Tejpal has been acquitted by the District and Sessions Court of Goa. He was charged with sexual assault on a junior colleague inside the elevator of a hotel in Goa in the year 2013. With no direct evidence available, this turned into a case of he-said-she-said (as sexual assault cases tend to be since they usually happen inside closed spaces). The honourable judge in her wisdom decided that the survivor’s testimony was not convincing enough, and so the accused must be awarded benefit of doubt.

The judge has pointed to faulty police investigation as one of the reasons for acquittal but I will leave that part as well as other observations of the judgment for legal experts to study and opine on. What caught my attention, rather what sent me reeling, to be precise, is the following remark in the judgment: 

“It is extremely revealing that the prosecutrix’s (victim) account neither demonstrates any kind of normative behaviour on her own part – that a prosecutrix of sexual assault on consecutive two nights might plausibly show nor does it show any such behaviour on the part of the accused.” 

The questions that immediately come to mind are: Is there a set behavioural pattern that all rape survivors must follow post the assault? Is there, er, a playbook, an SOP? If so, what does it list down? Are all victims expected to quickly go hysterical, to reveal full details to family and friends, to renounce the world and become suicidal? Bollywood movies from the days of Prem Chopra and Shakti Kapoor may have depicted such stereotypical behaviour, but surely these D-grade movies can’t become the reference point in the real world.

Truth is, there is no cookie-cutter model at work here, rape victims cannot be expected to exhibit an identical behavioural pattern after the incident. Just as we don’t behave the same way after we experience a traumatic event in our lives, be it a road accident, death of a loved one, job loss, financial fraud and so on. Some of us would go ballistic, others would clam up, still others would try and act bravely, there will be those who would slip into depression, the fact is there is no standard behavioural code embedded in our DNA, moreover acquired life experiences make us react differently to the same situation. Ditto with rape victims, a clinical psychologist I spoke to listed down many possible reactions that include fear, anxiety, shock, self-blame, anger, shame/embarrassment and most importantly, denial, that ‘this can’t have happened to me’ or ‘he couldn’t have done this to me, he is such a great guy’ (studies suggest that over 90% cases of rape involve perpetrators who are known to the survivor). There is no ‘normative’ behaviour, in short. 

Even if you agree with the verdict, with due respect to the judge, a wrong message has been sent out to women at large: In a sexual assault situation, particularly when there is no witness, however traumatised you are, remember to ‘behave’ like a ‘typical’ rape victim. Or you may find it difficult to get justice.