Shah, confirmed the conviction and the punishment for rape under the IPC but set aside the conviction under the PoA Act. In cases of sexual violence against Dalit and Adivasi women, courts have almost consistently set aside convictions under the PoA Act. It matters because the repeated setting aside of convictions under the PoA Act bolsters the allegations that the law is misused and amounts to the erasure of caste-based violence faced by women. We need to stop hiding behind smokescreens of hyper-technicality of evidence and recognise caste-based violence against women when it stares us in the face. If intersectionality theory mattered in this case, it should have influenced an interpretation of the PoA Act that reflects the lived experiences of women facing sexual violence.

Source: The Hindu May 31, 2021 18:46 UTC