Section 155 (4) goes against rape victims

It is incomprehensible that in this day and age we are forced to confront a situation whereby a rape victim is further victimised because of a chauvinistic provision in an archaic law. This is the case of Section 155 (4) of the Evidence Act 1872, as found in a research published by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), which allows the victim's character to be considered as part of the legal process in a rape case. This includes her romantic or sexual history – in other words whether she is 'virtuous' or not, to deserve justice after being raped. That this preposterous condition should still be applied while trying rapists is both incredulous and repugnant. It results in rapists to go scot free and the victims to be denied of justice.

Rights activists have long been fighting to eliminate the degrading, invasive two-finger test that basically establishes whether a raped victim was a virgin or not before the rape. Section 155 (4) gives justification for this abhorrent test. A victim's character, her personal history, has nothing to do with the enormity of a crime like rape and therefore should not be used as a mitigating factor in the passing of the verdict.         

Reportedly, this newly drafted Evidence Act has removed this deplorable provision. But until this is passed as a law by the Parliament, the old provision can still be referred to. We therefore urge that the newly drafted Act that has done away with Section 155 (4) be immediately approved.