TOUGH LAWS

the city's legal eagles agree that laws relating to rape can be draconian and innocents are harassed at times but they feel that the laws do act as a deterrent against perpetrators of such crimes. women have been at the receiving end in the past and there was a need to make the laws stricter. rapists and molesters, even if they could be identified often got away before the police reacted to complaints.however, it is true that innocents can be accused of the crime and made to remain behind bars till they are proved innocent. it is a price society has to pay to protect women from such criminals, a senior advocate of the city said. police agree that it is getting increasingly simple to level a charge of rape or molestation against professionals who spend a large portion of their time with women. take gynaecologists for instance. if a patient brings a molestation charge and medical examination reveals the doctors saliva in her private parts, the doctor will face a tough time. it could well be that the doctor was simply speaking while examining the patient and it was a mere accident. such people should be very careful about taking the necessary precautions, said a police officer. the officer claimed that he had been forced to arrest a doctor on charges of touching a patient's breasts though the charges had been proved wrong later. lawyers also agree that false charges can take a heavy toll on the lives of the accused. sometimes such people feel so ashamed that they decide to end their lives. after all, it is a social stigma and people are still loathe to believe that a person who has spent some time behind bars is actually innocent. the most such people can do is ask for monetary compensation but there is no way he can be compensated for the mental agony, another lawyer said. the laws are still not foolproof. to get a conviction for rape, actual penetration is required. the least that can be done to protect the members of the weaker sex is to prevent the accused from escaping. such laws do act as a deterrent, said biswanath bajpayee, senior advocate of calcutta high court.