SC raps Karwar judge for gender insensitivity

The Supreme Court on Thursday passed strong strictures on a fast-track Court in Karnataka for being insensitive to cruelty suffered by a married woman, who committed suicide as her husband Vajresh Venkatray Anvekar demanded dowry, assaulted her and abused her as a matter of right.

The sessions judge-II at Karwar acquitted Anvekar and his other family members of the charge of driving Girija to consume cyanide after frequently suffering her husband’s assaults. However, the Karnataka high court convicted Anvekar for abetment to commit suicide by his wife and cruelty in 2002, but sentenced him with monetary fine and a sentence of five years in jail.

Upholding the sentence and rejecting Anvekar's appeal, the top court said though it was the duty of the court to ensure that an innocent person is not convicted, “it is equally the duty of the court to see that perpetrators of heinous crimes are brought to book.”

A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai termed the sessions judge’s verdict as “perverse” because it showed “a mindset which needs to change.”

“There is a phenomenal rise in crimes against women and protection granted to women by the Constitution and other laws can be meaningful only if those who are entrusted with the job of doing justice are sensitised towards women’s problems,” Ms Desai, who wrote the judgment said.