Apprehending those accused of rape is hard enough as it is, but sometimes judges become another obstacle. Here’s some of the things Indian judges have said about rape:

“Of late this court has experienced a trend where the girl says that the boy took her to a room, applied vermilion on her forehead, put garland around her neck and declared that they are now husband and wife. Then they indulge in sexual intercourse with each other, with the consent of the girl and later on the girl alleges rape on the false assurance of marriage. This is a very disturbing trend… They voluntarily elope with their lovers to explore the greener pasteurs of bodily pleasure and on return to their homes, they conveniently fabricate the story of kidnap and rape in order to escape scolds and harsh treatment from the parents… The girls are morally and socially bound not to indulge in sexual intercourse before a proper marriage and if they do so, it would be to their peril and they cannot be heard to cry later on that it was rape.”

• Justice Virender Bhat State vs. Sushil Kumar

“Instances of woman behavior are not unknown that a feeble “no” may mean a “yes”. If the parties are strangers, the same theory may not be applied. If the parties are in some kind of prohibited relationship, then also it would be difficult to lay down a general principle that an emphatic “no” would only communicate the intention of the other party. If one of the parties to the act is a conservative person and is not exposed to the various ways and systems of the world, mere reluctance would also amount to negation of any consent. But same would not be the situation when parties are known to each other, are persons of letters and are intellectually/academically proficient, and if, in the past, there have been physical contacts. In such cases, it would be really difficult to decipher whether little or no resistance and a feeble “no”, was actually a denial of consent.”

• Justice Ashutosh Kumar State vs. Mahmood Farooqui

“Nothing is stated by the complainant as to why she did not approach the Court at the earliest point of time when the petitioner was allegedly forcing her for sexual favours; nothing is mentioned by the complainant as to why she went to her office at night ie., 11.00 p.m.; she has also not objected to consuming drinks with the petitioner and allowing him to stay with her till morning; the explanation offered by the complainant that after the perpetration of the act she was tired and fell asleep, is unbecoming of an Indian woman; that is not the way our women react when they are ravished”

• Justice Krishna S. Dixit State vs. Rao

“The testimony of the victim does offer an alternate story of casual relationship with her friends, acquaintances, adventurism, and experimentation in sexual encounters and these factors would therefore, offer a compelling reasons to consider the prayer for suspension of sentence favourably particularly when the accused themselves are young and the narrative does not throw up gut-wrenching violence, that normally precede or accompany such incidents.”

• Justice Mahesh Grover and Justice Raj Shekhar Attri State vs. Vikas Garg, Karan Chhabra, Hardik Sikri (Gang-rape)

“Hathras gang rape. I condemn the Hathras gang rape, and call for harsh punishment of the culprits. However, having said that, there is one aspect which also needs to be considered. Sex is a natural urge in men. It is sometimes said that after food, the next requirement is sex. In a conservative society like India, one can ordinarily have sex only through marriage. But when there is massive and rising unemployment, a large number of young men remain deprived of sex, even though they have reached an age when it is a normal requirement. The population of undivided India before 1947 was about 42 crores. Today, India alone has about 135 crore people, which means that there has been a fourfold increase in population. But the number of jobs increased are far less than fourfold. In fact, it is believed that in June 2020 alone, 12 crore Indians lost their jobs. Therefore, will there not be an increase in rapes? I once again make it clear that I am not justifying rapes, rather I condemn it. But considering the situation prevailing in the country, they are bound to increase. So if we really want to end or reduce rapes we have to create a social system in India in which there is no or little unemployment. I reiterate, I condemn the gang rape, and call for harshest punishment of the culprits.”

• Former Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju Statement on the Hathras Rape Case

“In the instant case, according to the evidence given by P.W. 1, A-1 entered the room and committed sexual intercourse with very great force and violence against her consent. Indeed if this was so, we should have expected the stiffest possible resistance from her resulting in injury over the penis or scrotum of the accused or abrasions over other parts of the body caused by the nails of the prosecutrix. The accused were examined by P.W. 9 who did not find any injury over the penis or scrotum and he does not say that he found any injury on any other part of the body. This is rather an important circumstance which negatives the allegation of rape. The prosecutrix knew full well that the appellants had entered the room with evil intention from the fact that her husband was dragged away to the verandah and the door was bolted by A-1. In ‘these circumstances we fail to see why the prosecutrix should have silently abided to have the intercourse with the appellant without putting up any resistance, except shouting,”

• Supreme Court Justice Syed Murtaza Fazl Ali State vs. Pratap Misra

“There is evidence on the record that the appellant had been employed in Dubai and presumably had mastered a handsome income when compared to persons working in his home state. He was a bachelor and obviously an attractive catch for girls in his brotherhood to be bonded in matrimony… It is the case of the prosecution that after the sex act, the prosecutrix went to the dancing performance rather than go to her parents and inform them of the suggested crime committed on her In these circumstances, we are of the view that it would be unsafe to rely on the word of the prosecutrix, given vent to after six days to the effect that she was subjected to rape or that sexual intercourse was committed without her consent. It would rather be safe to lean in favour of the appellant and accord him the benefit of doubt.”

• Supreme Court Justices M Punchhi and K J Reddy Jagannivasan vs State Of Kerala

“The High Court observes that since Banubi is an unchaste woman it would be extremely unsafe to allow the fortune and career of a Government Official to be put in jeopardy upon the uncorroborated version of such a woman who makes no secret of her illicit intimacy with another person.”

The Supreme Court would later overturn the High Court’s order and remove the inspector from service.

• State Of Maharashtra And Another vs Madhukar Narayan Mardikar

“The learned Sessions Judge found that there was no satisfactory evidence to prove that Mathura was below 16 years of age on the date of the occurrence. He further held that she was “a shocking liar” whose testimony “is riddled with falsehood and improbabilities’’. But he observed that “the farthest one can go into believing her and the corroborative circumstances, would be the conclusion that while at the Police Station she had sexual intercourse and that, in all probability, this was with accused No. 2.”… He further observed: “Finding Nunshi angry and knowing that Nunshi would suspect something fishy, she (Mathura) could not have very well admitted that of her own free will, she had surrendered her body to a Police Constable. The crowd included her lover Ashok, and she had to sound virtuous before him. This is why-this is a possibility-she might have invented the story of having been confined at the Police Station and raped by accused No.”

• State vs. Tuka Ram and Another