Gauhati High Court rejects PIL demanding castration punishment for rape convicts

The Gauhati High Court has rejected a public interest litigation that sought mandatory castration as punishment for individuals convicted of gang rape, rape-murder cases, and sexual assault of minors. The petition aimed to make such severe punishment a deterrent against heinous sexual crimes in Assam.

Advocate Reetam Singh had filed the PIL requesting the court to direct the Assam government to enact laws introducing compulsory castration for these categories of sexual offenders. The petition also sought implementation of measures similar to Andhra Pradesh's Disha Act and the formation of a committee to investigate rising rape crimes in the state.

The court dismissed the petition after examining the reliefs sought and the materials on record. "Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as after going through the materials available on record and after taking into consideration the reliefs sought for in this PIL petition, such as, to direct the State Government to bring in laws to introduce the punishment of compulsory castration of individuals involved in the crime of gang rape (all ages), rape and murder (all ages) along with rape of minors, we are of the view that the reliefs prayed for in the PIL petition cannot be granted on the pleaded facts and the materials placed on record," the court observed.

The petitioner had made several demands, including free distribution of pepper sprays to school girls, subsidised rates for women, and adoption of criminal law amendments similar to West Bengal's Aparajita Women and Child Bill.

However, the Assam Police countered these demands by highlighting existing initiatives. The Director General of Police filed a detailed affidavit showcasing the state's zero-tolerance policy toward crimes against women and children. These measures include 320 Women Help Desks across police stations, the Sishu Mitra Resource Centre in collaboration with UNICEF, and specialised monitoring of POCSO Act cases.

The police response emphasised their active social media campaigns for awareness generation and priority handling of heinous crimes. "Heinous crimes against women and children such as rape, murder, child sexual abuse trafficking etc. are accorded top priority and therefore, proper monitoring of such cases are carried out for ensuring time bound investigations," the affidavit stated.

The CID Headquarters has also published investigation handbooks and compiled standard operating procedures specifically for crimes against women and children, which have been distributed to all police stations statewide.

The court rejected the petitioner's argument that Assam should adopt schemes from other states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The bench emphasised that crime-fighting strategies must be tailored to local conditions.

"Every State has its own challenges in tackling the crimes against society including crimes against women and children. A scheme introduced or implemented by a particular State is always not necessarily effective in another State. Any scheme for tackling crimes in a particular State is formulated and implemented after taking into consideration the ground realities of that State. In such circumstances, no such directions can be issued that the State of Assam may implement or adopt a Scheme of other States for tackling the crimes against women and children," the court ruled.

The PIL was ultimately dismissed for lacking merit, with the court finding that existing state mechanisms and policies were adequate for addressing crimes against women and children in Assam.