The prevalence of male custodial rape in children’s homes, police stations and jails is an incontrovertible fact.
However, even the statistics compiled by institutions like the National Commission of Human Rights do not include male custodial rape. Today, a policeman accused of custodial rape is prosecuted under Section 377 of the IPC. This provision titled ‘unnatural offenses’ makes no difference between consensual and non-consensual sex and is used by the police to harass and persecute gay and homosexual men. The constitutionality of the provision is currently under challenge in the Delhi High Court. There is an urgent need to have a law to deal with male custodial rape. The present report is a small attempt towards recognition of this grave offense as well as for changes in the law. During the course of its investigation, PUDR met the victim, his father, the police station officials where the crime was committed, the staff and superintendent of the Children’s Home where the boy was kept, members of the Child Welfare Committee, and the staff of Pratidhi, the NGO which has taken up the boy’s case in court.
To download the report, click below:
An Invisible Crime: Investigation into Custodial Male Rape at Shakarpur Police Station
