Judicial responses to crime against women in metropolitan India and its impact on conviction outcomes
Main Article Content
Abstract
Crimes against women continue to pose a significant impediment to the effective administration of justice in metropolitan India. The current research attempts to examine the nature and pattern of crimes against women, the judicial response thereto and its effect on conviction results. The study is based on both doctrinal and empirical research methodology involving analysis of applicable laws, judicial decisions and available NCRB data regarding crimes committed against women and court disposal of cases. The study analyses conviction, acquittal, pending, evidence problems, investigation, prosecution, judicial decision-making and victim protection aspects. The main goal of the study is to understand the factors affecting conviction outcomes and the effectiveness of judicial mechanisms in metropolitan India.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
References
Agarwal, S., & Sharma, D. (2022). “One Stop Crisis Centres” for the Redress of Sexual Offenses in India: Addressing Gaps between Policy, Execution, and Implementation. International Journal of Legal Information, 50(3), 113-120. https://doi.org/10.1017/jli.2022.32
Dash, P. P. (2020). Rape adjudication in India in the aftermath of Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013: findings from trial courts of Delhi. Indian Law Review, 4(2), 244-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/24730580.2020.1768774
Jassal, N. (2024). Does victim gender matter for justice delivery? Police and judicial responses to women’s cases in India. American Political Science Review, 118(3), 1278-1304. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055423000916
Puri, K., Paltasingh, K. R., & Mohanty, C. K. (2024). Are crimes against women in India converging? Some empirical observations. Global Crime, 25(3-4), 177-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/17440572.2024.2371315
Chaudhary, S. (2024). The value of feminist legal methods in adjudicating women’s issues: a critical comparison of two judicial approaches from India. Indian Law Review, 8(1), 66-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/24730580.2024.2332821
Ritika, Awasthi, V., Rani, R., Jaiswal, G., Grover, N., & Sharma, A. (2025). Predictive Analysis of Crime Against Women in India: Uncovering Critical Insights. Women & Criminal Justice, 1-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2025.2543087 (Taylor & Francis Online)
Reports
National Crime Records Bureau. (2024). Crime in India 2023. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
World Health Organization. (2021). Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2018. WHO.
Law Commission of India. (2000). 172nd Report on Review of Rape Laws.
Government of India. (2023). The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. India Code.
Government of India. (2023). The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. India Code.
Cases
• State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh, (1996) 2 SCC 384
• Laxmi v. Union of India, (2014) 4 SCC 427
• Nipun Saxena v. Union of India, W.P. (C) No. 565 of 2012 (Supreme Court of India, Dec. 11, 2018).