The National Commission for Women (NCW) has announced that it has taken suo moto cognisance of a woman who was subjected to the ‘two-finger test’, a medical procedure that has been banned by the Supreme Court.
This has come as a consequence of a media report which had been making rounds. The media report stated that the doctors of the Indian Air Force performed the ‘two-finger test’ on a woman Air Force officer who had previously alleged rape against a Lieutenant and in this manner caused the woman officer to ‘relive the trauma’.
The incident of sexual violence had reportedly taken place on 10 September.
The accused, a flight lieutenant, was arrested by the Coimbatore All-Women police on September 25 after he surrendered before the district judge court.
NCW said the panel is “utterly disappointed and strongly condemns” the action of the doctors. In a statement, NCW said the test violated a Supreme Court ruling as well as the right to privacy and dignity.
The Supreme Court in 2013 held the results of such tests cannot be used against rape survivors and that it was irrelevant whether the victim was seemingly “habituated to sexual intercourse”.
The two finger test is an intrusive physical examination that is intended to gauge the laxity of a woman’s vaginal muscles and whether the hymen is present or distended. Not only are such tests considered to be a blatant violation of a woman’s dignity, it is also unscientific and inconclusive in ascertaining rape.
Both the rape victim and the accused were part of a training course and had attended a party in the officers’ mess on the night of September 9. She said the assault took place inside her room at the Air Force Administrative College in Coimbatore’s Redfields.
The assault took place about two weeks ago and the officer said she was forced to go to the police because she was not satisfied with action taken by the IAF after her original complaint.
The IAF woman officer in her complaint before the All Woman police had said that the attitude of some of the officers of the IAF who were made aware of the incident, was to force her to withdraw the complaint.
Related Article: Coimbatore IAF officer rape case: Air Force authorities to probe the incident
(With inputs from ANI and The Hindustan Times.)