Acquittal of three men in Chhawla gang rape case highlights the low conviction rate in rape cases

By: Yash Gupte

The Supreme Court on Monday passed an order acquitting the three men charged in the Chhawla gang rape case in 2012. The three accused were previously sentenced to death by the Delhi High Court and the trial court.

Acquittal of three men arrested and charged in the Chhawla gang rape case has highlighted the issue of low conviction rates in rape cases in India. The Supreme Court on Monday passed an order acquitting the three men charged in the Chhawla gang rape case in 2012. The three accused were previously sentenced to death by the Delhi High Court and the trial court.

At 28.6 per cent, the conviction rate for rapes cases remains abysmally low. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s Report (NCRB) titled “Crime in India 2021”, in 2021, of 46,127 cases of rape for investigation, police filed chargesheet in only 26,164 cases. The conviction rate in rape cases was lower compared to the conviction rate in murder cases. In 2022, conviction rate for murder cases was 42.4 per cent. Of the 26,164 rape cases for trial in 2021, convictions happened in only 3,368 cases.

Acquittal of the three men in the Chhawla case has stirred a controversy and many were unhappy with the Supreme Court judgment. The three accused Rahul, Ravi and Vinod abducted the girl while she was returning home from her work on 9 February 2012, according to reports. The police later found a mutilated body of the girl near Rewari, Haryana on February 14 with multiple wounds. The autopsy found that the girl was attacked, raped and had acid poured on her eyes.

The trial court, which had referred to the case as "rarest of rare," pronounced the death penalty on the accused men in 2014. The sentence had been upheld by the Delhi High Court.

The Supreme Court Bench found numerous flaws in the prosecution case, including the three accused persons' arrests, the identification of the vehicle they are accused of kidnapping the woman in, the seizure and sealing of the items and the collection of samples, medical and scientific evidence, the DNA profiling report, call data records, etc.

The conviction rate in rape cases was 32.2 per cent in 2017. There was a drop of around 4 per cent in the conviction rate from 32.2 per cent in 2017 to 28.6 per cent in 2021. The lowest conviction rate was recorded in the year 2018 at 27.2 per cent. According to experts, the reason behind the low conviction rate in the rape cases is because the criminal justice system in India is based on the concept of proof beyond reasonable doubt which makes the rate of conviction in the rape cases quite scarce.

Expressing concern over the low conviction rate, even the Supreme Court had observed that 90% of rape cases end in acquittal. The low conviction rate in rape cases is still prevalent despite anti-rape laws being made stringent after the Nirbhaya gang rape case in 2012.

Justice Bela Trivedi said that, “The prosecution has to bring home the charges levelled against them beyond reasonable doubt, which the prosecution has failed to do in the instant case, resultantly, the court is left with no alternative but to acquit the accused, though involved in a very heinous crime.” This highlights the ignorant and casual attitude of the police in the handling of rape cases. The flaws in the investigation and the casual attitude of the prosecution had left the judiciary in a helpless position with no alternative but the acquittal of three men in the case. This is the primary reason behind the low conviction rate in rape cases.

Source: National Crime Records Bureau