Protection to Women Under Indian Constitution & Criminal Law (Under Indian Constitution Law and Criminal Procedure Code)

Violence against women is present in every country, cutting across boundaries of culture, class, education, income, ethnicity and age. Since time immemorial India is · particularly a male dominated society and prevalence of illiteracy among women has resulted in wide spread violence against women. Therefore, Indian women like women world over have suffered from domestic violence like purdah system, satipratha, Female feoticide, Female infanticide, different kinds of physical, emotional and mental abuse, dowry death, cruelty, polygamy etc. In India, family is considered to be a sacred institution and it acts as a source of furtherance of mental, social and spiritual well being of its members. Family creates bonds and a sense of belonging and stability of relation among its members which is now weakening because today domestic violence has been identified as a major cause of injuries to women in India.

The Constitution of India prohibits discrimination based on sex but it equally directs and empowers the government to undertake special measures for women. Though the position of women has improved in the last four decades, but still they are struggling to maintain their dignity and freedom. Presently Indian women are facing the toughest time mentally and physically, mainly due to unawareness and lack of knowledge of legal and constitutional rights of a woman. The Constitution provides many protection rights for women such as Protective discrimination in favour of women, Right to freedom of women, Right of women against exploitation, Rights of women under directives and political representations of women. All these rights are explained below.

All persons including women are equal in the eyes of the law and they are also entitled to enjoy equal protection of laws within the territorial jurisdiction of India It signifies that all persons irrespective of sex should be treated equally in similar circumstances. In other words, the State should not make any discrimination between one person and another, and amongst equals the law should be administered equally.

It deals with prohibition against discrimination. It prohibits the state to make any discrimination against any citizen including women on grounds of race, caste, sex, religion, place of birth etc. It states that all citizens irrespective of race, caste, sex etc. are entitled to enjoy equal rights in regard to access to shops, hotels, bathing ghats etc.  while Article 15 (3) permits ‘protective discrimination’ in favour of women according to which state can make special provision for women and the scope of this article is wide enough to cover the entire range of state activity including employment.

All citizens including women will enjoy equality of opportunity in matters of public employment irrespective of their sex, races, castes, religions etc.

Articles 19 to 22 of The Constitution of India provide a detailed scheme of Right to Freedom. Article 19 (1) guarantees 6 freedoms (speech and expression, assembly, association or unions, movements, residence, profession and occupation) for citizens with reasonable restrictions and Article 21 provides for Right to life and personal liberty of each and every person in India which includes Right to live with human dignity, right to livelihood, right to work, right to privacy, right against sexual harassment etc. The Indian Parliament also enacted

Right against exploitation is recognized under Article 23 and 24 of the Constitution of India. Article 23 prohibits “traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of labour”. The expression “traffic in human beings is evidently a very wide expression including the prohibition of traffic in women for immoral or other purposes. Also the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956 has been enacted with the object of inhibiting or abolishing the immoral trafficking of women and girls. Articles 21 & 23 also impose the duty on state to identify, release and rehabilitate freed bonded labourers. In Gaurav Jain vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court held that the children of the prostitutes have the right to equality of opportunity, dignity, care, protection and rehabilitation so as to be part of mainstream social life.

Directive principles of State policy According to Article 39 of the Constitution of India, the State shall direct its policy towards securing - (a) that the citizen, ·men and women shall equally have the right to an adequate means of livelihood, and (d) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women. Article 42 of the Constitution of India states that, the State shall make provision ·for securing just and human conditions of work and for maternity relief.

Article 40 of the Constitution which lay down that the state shall take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self government. To realize the Directive the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments had sought to ensure a certain proportion of women as chair persons of panchayats. According to Article 243- D (3) and 243-T (3), not less than one third of the total number of seats to be filled by Direct election in every Panchayat/Municipality shall be reserved for women (including SCs AND STs). This opportunity of being a part of local level arbitration process has improved the social conditions of women in village areas.

The incidents of domestic violence against women have been increasing over the years. Women are subjected to violences like cruelty by husband and his relatives, · dowrydeath, grievous hurt, murder, marital rape by husband etc. There are some criminal laws in India dealing with domestic violence cases which are stated below :

The criminal law in India is contained primarily in the Indian penal code, 1860 (I.P.C). The I.P,C is supplemented by special laws, which define and punish specific offences. There are some sections in Indian penal code, 1860 which deals with different domestic violences.
Some IPC provisions are as follows:

• Rape (Sec. 376 IPC)
• Kidnapping & Abduction for different purposes ( Sec. 363-373)
• Homicide for Dowry, Dowry Deaths or their attempts (Sec. 302/304-B IPC) Torture, both mental and physical (Sec. 498-A IPC)
• Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC) Sexual Harassment (Sec. 509 IPC)

Right to Privacy while recording statement- Under section 164 of CrPC, a woman who has been raped can record her statement before District Magistrate when the case is under trial and no one else needs to be present. Alternatively, she can record the statement with only one police officer and woman constable.

Police can’t say no- A rape victim can register her complaint from any police station under Zero FIR ruling by the Supreme Court. Sometimes, the police station under which the incident occurs refuses to register the victim‘s complaint in order to keep clear of responsibility and tries sending the victim to another police station. In such cases, she has the right to lodge an FIR at any police station under the provision of Zero FIR.
Search by another Women only- Under section 51(2) of CrPC, when an accused is a woman another woman should make search with strict regard to decency.
Opportunity to come out of the house- Section 47(2) CrPC says, if the accused hides.

Medical Examination by a female practitioner-

Under section 53(2) CrPC, when a person to be examined medically is female, then the examination shall be made only by or under the supervision of female registered medical practitioner.

Attendance cannot be required at any other place-

Section 160 CrPC protects women saying that no woman shall be required to attend any place other than a place in which she resides. Hence, a police officer cannot require the attendance of a woman, but on the contrary, he has to go to the place where she resides for making an investigation and can interrogate in the presence of a woman constable and family members or friends.

No arrests after sunset-

Because to concerns of violation of the rights of women, section 46(4) provides that forbids the arrest of women after sunset and before sunrise, except in exceptional circumstances, in which case the arrest can be done by a woman police officer after making a written report and obtaining a prior permission from the concerned Judicial Magistrate of First class.