Daily Times

Powerful words, even with their ground-shattering, history-making grandeur are at the end of the day, just words. Thus, years after a Lahore court had outlawed the intrusive medical examination, serving no purpose other than making victims of sexual assault live through a second trauma, it was heartening to see the Healthcare Department in Punjab determinedly carry out its implementation by termination of a medic for performing a two-finger test during a victim examination.

That the inclusion of the archaic test in the medicolegal examination arose as a result of a petition submitted by a rape suspect does add a bittersweet tinge to the entire episode. However, the right to due process cannot be denied to any accused and therefore, the bench cannot be blamed for demanding additional evidence from a new medical board before it announces the verdict.

Still, the apprehensions raised by Justice Farooq Haider over the practice of the two-finger test at the hospitals despite a ban and the issuance of illegal medical certificates remain a serious cause of concern for the medico-legal authorities in Punjab. Simply announcing changes in the manual is not enough.

We may pat our backs for having come a long way from the dark ages when unscientific and misogynistic notions were used to violate the dignity of a female victim (guaranteed by Article 14 of the constitution) but rolling out landmark verdicts is a futile exercise if they are not carried out.

The health department may have sacked one female doctor because of the furore but who’s to tell how many more professionals are still adopting the same procedures to hurry through investigations? Meaningful transformation would only occur if ethical, gender-sensitive training is mandated for all responders to crimes of sexual violence. In light of another verdict by the Supreme Court against the line of questioning that seeks to discredit the victim’s credibility, it would perhaps be a step in the right direction to ensure sensitised proceedings in the next hearing. *