Incest: Still Not A Punishable Offence And Covered Under Section 276 IPC

Dr.binabiswas

New Member
Incest: Still Not A Punishable Offence And Covered Under Section 376 IPC

DRAFT AND DELAY ...ALL THAT OUR LAW OF JUSTICE OFFERS WHILE A MINOR GIRL REPEATEDLY GETS RAPED BY HER FATHER, BROTHER AND UNCLE!! SHAMEFUL!!!
Kannur, Kerala: In a small room of a cemented building with washed out white paint on the outside, a 13-year-old girl, separated from her family for the first time, says she has no wish to see her mother...she may not like to face her mother may be because of fear of inviting her anger!!
‘For two years, she was raped in her own home - allegedly by two uncles, her brother, her father - in the village of Undalore, in Kannur district in north Kerala.’
What our Minister says:
"It is shameful that Kerala, (a state) with highest literacy rate has to face such issues," said the state's Home Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. "Kerala will soon come out with a law to protect the innocence and dignity of children... already a draft law has been made”.
US, UK, Germany, Australia and other nations have laws of punishing incest as old as 100 years!!
Many countries like UK, US and Germany have strong laws against incest. UK, which made incest punishable (Familial Sex Offences Act now replaced by Sexual Offences Act 2003) sets a prison term of 12 years for the offence. While punishment in the US (Massachusetts) for the offence extends to 20 years, in Australia it has been made a Federal Offence (though ordinary crimes are dealt with by States). The minimum punishment prescribed there is 10 years which may extend to 25 years.
An Indian incestuous rapist faces charges under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, which covers rape. This is how India deals with the shameful and appalling reality of incest. A man accused of raping a child younger than 12 can expect a minimum sentence of 10 years; the highest punishment is life imprisonment. But an Indian father accused of forcing himself upon his minor daughter cannot be convicted for incest per se.
A father does not not get the custody of a young girl child in India after divorce since the law thinks incest can happen and within families too incest can happen...why can't they make a separate INCEST law to deal with it??? Why do we need section 376 to cover incest as rape??? Why not A STRINGENT LAW FOR INCEST?????
 
Last edited:
This is indeed a shameful act and these people should be punished under law. However, the girl can get justice under the Protection of child abuse act as she is a minor and she has been raped by her family members quite a number of times. Incest is prohibited under Hindu Law but there are no punishment against it and the child can get justice under Section 90 of IPC, which provides punishment for child abuse. However, Government should now make laws in order to prohibit such shameful acts.
 
Incest although is prohibited under the Hindu personal law but there are no such punishments or act that will punish the convict. It is not even covered under sec 376 of IPC that offers punishment for rape. However, Government should make laws in this regard in order to protect the young minor girls falling victims of incest rapes as this is seen to be increasing.
 
Incest is still not a punishable offence under section 376 of the IPC. It offers remedy for rape of a minor, which states that
(i) Where a minor girl just 10 years of age raped by accused, a minor of 16 years on the date of incident, convicted and sentenced to 3 years R.I., therefore, since then many years added to his age, he cannot be even sent to an approved school under the Act and as such his conviction is maintained but sentence set aside; Bire alias Bir Bahadur Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2000 Cr LJ 87 (All).
(ii) When the prosecutrix is a minor aged below 16 years, the question of her being a consenting party to the sexual inter*course does not arise or is of no consequence; Naresh v. State of Haryana, (1997) 2 Crimes 587 (P&H).
However, incest is not included and Government should amend the section and include incest as a crime under this section.
 
Incest is still not a punishable offence under section 376 of the IPC. Incest is a serious crime and it hampers the mental health of the victim. Incest rapes are increasing in the country and owing to shame, the victims do not come up with complaints. However, it is time that the section 376 of the IPC is amended and incest is included in it to provide justice to the victims.
 
There is no need to have a separate law for incest per se. very severe punishment for child rape + abuse of authority should be enough.
 
Back
Top