While moving from one courtroom to another as an intern amidst the hustle and bustle and unsettled chaos of the Delhi High Court last week, we stumbled upon a proceeding in connection with a rape case in one such courtroom.
It was jam-packed with lawyers, media persons and several others. The counsel representing the accused was reading the FIR, lodged by the survivor, rife with personal details of her life as well as a detailed narration of how the heinous crime was perpetrated against her.
The entire courtroom scene became so intense that the father of the survivor had an emotional breakdown. But this begs a question: in a society where rape is still stigmatised, shouldn’t the identity of rape survivors be protected during judicial proceedings?