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Managing A Rape Victim: Legal Implications

Examination of the Accused

The principal features of the examination are:

• the preliminary data, such as, the name, age, occupation, address, brought by whom, identification marks, consent for examination, time of examination and brief history
• physical examination and mental condition
• signs of struggle on clothes and body, and
• local examination of the genitals.

Under section 53 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, an accused can be examined even without his consent and by use of force if such an examination is desirable to ascertain the accused's part in a sexual offence. If the accused is arrested soon after the crime, the police should now allow him to go to the bathroom alone until the medical examination has been finished, lest he may wash off the stains on his body and clothes and destroy valuable evidence. He may allege that the process began on the basis of consent. As has been rightly observed, there is no charge which is more easily made than that of the crime of rape and there is no crime in which the innocence of the accused part may be so difficult to prove. As these cases are as a rule decided on medical evidence, it is incumbent on the medical practitioner to take the greatest possible care in the examination of such cases.

The examiner should note the size and physique. The mental condition and any signs of drunkenness should be specially noted.

A search should be made for injuries consistent with an alleged struggle. The clothing should be carefully examined for missing buttons or presence of foreign hairs, foreign fabrics, lip-stick or make-up soiling etc. The blood and seminal stains are usually found on the front of the undergarments. If bloodstains are found on the clothes, the group of blood should be ascertained and a microscopic examination for vaginal epithelium and bacterial flora made.

The demonstration of seminal stains on clothing is always capable of innocent explanation! It merely indicates a recent emission. General marks of violence such as bites, bruises and scratches may be found on the face, hands, or private parts. They should be described in full like any other injuries with data to assess their age. Seminal stains and blood stains may be found about the pubic hair. The blood stains, if dry, should be scraped with a clean blunt scalpel and preserved for examination.

The penis should be examined for the presence of smegma under the prepuce. Smegma is a thick cheesy secretion with a disagreeable odour. It consists of desquamated epithelial cells and smegma bacilli. The presence of thick uniform coating of smegma under the prepuce or round about the corona glandis is in consistent with a recent intercourse. The smegma is rubbed off during the intercourse and it takes about twenty-four hours to accumulate. The presence of a torn frenum is consistent with a recent intercourse. The frenum may be torn due to forcible introduction of the organ into the vagina.

The presence of venereal discharge or syphilitic chancre should be specifically looked for and the victim examined incubation periods. In a recent case, the penis should be examined for the presence of vaginal epithelial cells on its surface. For this purpose, the organ is wiped with a clean filter paper and the paper exposed to the vapours of Lugol's iodine, when the paper turns brown in colour due to the high glycogen content of vaginal cells, when present. The accused should also be examined to determine if there is anything to suggest that he is impotent. If necessary, his blood can also be taken for grouping, under section 53 (1) CrPC, 1973. And, this may be of value if the group of the seminal matter found on the victim can be ascertained.