Lagatar24 desk
New Delhi, Oct 31: The Supreme Court has prohibited the “Two-Finger Test” in rape cases and warned that persons conducting such tests will be held guilty of misconduct.
It is regrettable that the “two-finger test” continues to be conducted even to this day and age, a bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said.
While pronouncing the judgement, the bench observed, “This court has time and again deprecated the use of two finger test in cases alleging rape and sexual assault. The so-called test has no scientific basis. It instead re-victimises and re-traumatises women. The two-finger test must not be conducted….The test is based on an incorrect assumption that a sexually active woman cannot be raped. Nothing can be further from the truth.”
The bench added, “The probative value of a woman’s testimony does not depend on her sexual history. It is patriarchal and sexist to suggest that a woman cannot be believed when she states that she was raped merely because she is sexually active.”
The bench instructed the Union Health Ministry to prevent the two-finger test from being administered to victims of sexual assault and rape.
The Court ordered the Union and State governments to make sure that all public and private hospitals get the Department of Health and Family Welfare’s instructions, which call for the two-finger test.
