Is sexual violence due to moral curbs, asks Madras High Court

Madras High Court has asked the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to explore the possibility of providing gadgets to women to prevent sexual violence which is on the rise even after stringent laws were brought in after the Nirbhaya incident.

Seeking urgent measures to stop crime against women and girls, Justice N Kirubakaran has raised several queries to be answered by the Union and the state governments as well as the National Commission for Women (NCW).

“Sexual assault is a violation of privacy, dignity, and honour causing a permanent scar and continuous agony in the mind of the victim,” Justice Kirubakaran said while dismissing a bail plea of a duo accused in the rape-and-murder of a 60-year-old woman.

He involved the Centre and NCW in the case and directed them to file response to his queries. He has asked whether the spurt in sexual violence against women is a result of a fall in sex ratio or due to ‘sex starvation’ among Indian men in view of various cultural and moral curbs. He has also asked whether alcoholism has any role to play in this.

Noting that sexual assaults on women continued unabated despite stringent laws brought in after the December 16 Delhi …read more