Mediation after rape? No, your honour, say jurists

[Anup Tiwari]

CHENNAI: The Madras high court has stirred a hornet's nest by suggesting a 'compromise' and an amicable mediated settlement in a case where a 15-year-old girl was raped. The offender was found guilty and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. Justice P Devadass' suggestion to settle the matter by mediation and conciliation has triggered an avalanche of criticism with several jurists and women's rights activists wondering as to how the choice of a compromise could be given to an offender, whatever the facts of the case be. "The girl was 15 years old when she was raped, and she delivered a baby the next year. After six years of trial, the man was found guilty . He was given seven years' imprisonment and fined '2 lakh.What is before the high court is an appeal by the offender,and there is no request from either the girl or the offender for a compromise," said a senior jurist. It is not correct to give the option of settling the matter by compromise to the offender, he said, adding, "an alternative dispute resolution mechanism cannot be stretched to this extent."

http://m.timesofindia.com/city/chen...r-honour-say-jurists/articleshow/47808975.cms

 

[Rahulan Raj]

So bad, weird.