NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said it is unfortunate that the practice of the “two-finger test” to examine rape survivors is still prevalent in society, and asked the Centre and the states to ensure it is not conducted.
A bench of justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli overturned a decision of the Jharkhand High Court acquitting a rape and murder convict, and upheld a decision of a trial court holding him guilty.
The bench said a decade-old decision of the top court had held the invasive “two-finger test” as a violation of a woman’s dignity and privacy.
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“It is unfortunate that the practice is still prevalent even today. The procedure which tests vaginal laxity is upfront on women’s dignity. It cannot be said that a sexually active woman cannot be raped,” the bench said.
It issued a slew of directions to the Centre and state government authorities and asked the DGPs and health secretaries of the states to ensure that the “two-finger test” is not conducted.
The top court said that any individual conducting the two-finger test will be held guilty of misconduct.
It directed the Centre and the health secretaries of the state to take steps to remove the study materials on two-finger tests from the curriculum of government and private medical colleges.
