ISSN: 2639-2526
Authors: Savana P*
Rape, which is a heinous crime criminalized by law in Nepal is increasing and includes cases of gang rape. The Case Law Study was done on the 5 years registered cases of gang rape in High Court, Butwal Bench with official ethical permission. There are 6 district courts under the jurisdiction of High Court with diverse population and geographical distribution. There were 472 cases registered as sexual violence. 141 cases with 149 survivors were awarded with final summary hearing; 12% of these were gang rape cases. There were 18 survivors of gang rape with 52 male perpetrators. More than half the survivors of gang rape were minors and almost 90% of perpetrators were adult men, two third of them known to the survivor. The gang attacked to rape a sole vulnerable survivor range from 2 to 8 perpetrators. There were more than 10% male children accompanying adults in the activity. Most of the noted site of gang rape was fields, followed by the survivor’s home. Two thirds of the cases had medical evidence suggestive of violence. One third of the cases were acquitted due to lack of evidence, and few of the survivors were punished with fines for wrongful accusation in the final verdict. There are several challenges and loopholes in the socio-cultural as well as criminal justice system in Nepal which demands to be scrutinized to justify the maxim, ‘Let hundred guilty be acquitted but one innocent should not be convicted’ in heinous crimes such as gang rape.
Keywords: Gang rape; High Court; Crime
