NEW DELHI, Apr 12:
The Central Information Commission has directed the Delhi Government to ensure that doctors carrying out two-finger test on rape victims should not comment on their conduct after the Government justified the test for treatment of survivors and conviction of accused.
During a hearing before the Central Information Commission which sought to know whether the tests have been done with or they were continuing, an expert from Delhi Government cited an advisory to the doctors which says ban on internal examination of a sexual assault survivor, may not only prove detrimental to her health but also result in injustice.
“Expert gynaecologist Puneeta Mahajan represented that there was a misconception among the general public and media that Per Vaginal (PV) test, commonly referred as two-finger test, was being conducted on all rape victims routine,” Information Commissioner Sridhary Acharyulu pointed out.
Mahajan, who appeared on behalf of health and family welfare department of Delhi Government, stated that in some cases the tests were necessary to achieve conviction of rape accused and also for the purpose of treatment to the victim.
Considering the arguments, Acharyulu directed the Delhi Government to include in the advisory “an instruction to the doctors to explain the purpose and need in language of the victim or their relatives before conducting such test only for medical purposes and not to establish the conduct of victim”.
The advisory, produced during the hearing, said it is evident from media reports that a misconception exists in the minds of the general public, legal experts and the judicial courts that “finger test” is conducted by doctors to judge if the rape victim is habituated to sexual intercourse.
The experts from the Government cited the advisory which said that the test should be performed only if medically indicates certain circumstances.
They said the advisory instructs doctors to refrain from recording how many fingers can or cannot be inserted during these gynaecological examinations and doctors should refrain from comments both verbal and written like “rape has occurred/ not occurred or likely/unlikely” in their reports.
“Although it is conceded that ‘per vaginal’, ‘per speculum’ ‘bimanual examination’ may not be necessary in all the cases, physicians examining such cases ultimately have a duty to do all in the best interests of their patients, only they have to be judicious and take informed consent before they perform these procedures,” they said.
After hearing the parties, CIC directed the Delhi Government to ensure that this advisory was made available to doctors entrusted with the medical examination of survivors of sexual assault, NGOs and prepare a note in simple English explaining medial terms in simple language to remove the misunderstandings about these tests among the media, legal experts and general public. (PTI)
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