From Shopian and Khairalanji to Manipur and Chhattisgarh, we have been witness repeatedly to the widespread culture of impunity within the institutions and outfits of the State to subvert the ends of justice in cases of sexual assault. In such a situation, there is an urgent need for the women’s movement and the democratic rights movement to work towards creating a legal, medical and forensic understanding of evidence gathering and a system of monitoring the evidence gathered such that we may hold the State and the judicial system accountable, and thereby render the ends of justice.
A one-day meeting on Tools and Procedures in Sexual Assault, New Delhi, 30th October, 2010 was thus organised to initiate a discussion between experts in the legal and forensic fields on the lacunae in evidence gathering in sexual assault with a view to prepare suggestions towards addressing this evidence deficit within social and medico-legal contexts.
Here is a report of the meeting.
WSS 