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Police
- If an offence of rape is committed, the first and most important thing to do is to report it to the police by filing a First Information Report (FIR).1 Otherwise, call 1091 (Women’s Helpline Number) and report the rape. Even if someone does not report the crime right away, this does not mean that the delayed FIR will harm the case. It may become more difficult for the police to carry out the investigation and gather evidence, but it is possible to file an FIR at a later date as well.
- To file an FIR, visit the nearest police station. The police station does not necessarily have to be in the area where the crime has been committed. To locate the police station, download the ‘Indian Police at your Call’ app and locate the nearest police station. Otherwise, call 100.
- Approaching the police immediately after being assaulted can be very daunting for the survivor. However, the survivor doesn’t have to do this alone. The woman can take the help of a friend or approach a lawyer to assist her in filing a complaint. In fact, another person can file the FIR for the woman if she doesn’t want to approach the police by herself.2 If the survivor approaches the police with her complaint, the information is recorded only by a woman officer.3
- If the survivor is physically or mentally disabled, the police come and take her complaint from her residence or any other place where she feels comfortable.4 The survivor’s statement is recorded at her residence or in any place of her choice. As far as possible, the statement is recorded by a woman police officer in the presence of the survivor’s parents/guardian/near relatives/ social worker of the locality.5
- It is perfectly alright if the survivor does not remember specific details of the assault or even the attacker. It is enough if she tells the police as many details as she remembers.
- Once the police have read out the complaint, if all the details are correct, the complainant signs the FIR.6 Any police officer who refuses to file the FIR or fails to record information of the offence is punishable with imprisonment for six months to two years, along with a fine.7
- The complainant can get a copy of the FIR for free.8 It is also possible to freely access the FIR online using the FIR number, date of FIR and the name of the police station.
- After the FIR has been registered, the contents of it cannot be changed. However, additional information can be given to the police later on at any point.
One Stop Centres
A survivor can also approach One Stop Centres, which provide an integrated range of services to women affected by violence. These services include medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psycho-social counseling and temporary support services.
- Section 154, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.[↩]
- Hallu and Others v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1974 AIR 1936.[↩]
- Proviso to Section 154, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.[↩]
- Proviso (a), Section 154, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.[↩]
- Proviso to Section 157(1), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.[↩]
- Section 154(1), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.[↩]
- Section 166A(c), Indian Penal Code, 1860.[↩]
- Section 154(2), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.[↩]
Priyanka Mrinal
April 23, 2024
Being a deginified person I felt embarassed about lodging a rape case . A man with a fake name , number and I’d is harassing me since 2019 and in February 2021 he reached out my flat forcefully and abused me sexually and threatened me that if I reach police for any kind of help then he gonna kill my father and police won’t help me much into this coz he knows many police commissioner who can easily kill my all family members and can manage to end my life with shifting all blames on me as the flat where I am staying that too have been intentionally managed by him as he was already in touch with my landlord. As declared , he managed to murder my father in the hospital Paras Patna on October 25th as at my permanent resident few of his criminals friends were already residing since long as a renter with a different fake id . Even after the murder of my father that man didn’t stopped, he and his group some how managed to drain 40 lakh + 10lakh + 25 lakh from my family members on account of fake marriage Tilak and on the account of fake home loan and are still behind our money , now he has his eyes over my personal savings account and on 21st April he and his criminal police officers friend were in my bank to drain out my 50 lakhs FD . They also dared to harass my father’s friend in patna secretariat and in patna sikhcha bhawan and they all are ready to record their statements in patna high court , even in delhi they dared to harass few of my friends from ministry of commerce. We all are scared like anything, it’s a threat to our mental peace as well as threat to life . He approached me with a fake fb id and number and proclaimed that he was one of my university senior , but he might not be into my mind as he was a down character student and wasn’t good enough in his studies too but now he has established his new image and have changed his character and wanna meet me once , but when I called him to meet me , he poisoning my food & when i got fainted and was almost dead , he just raped me brutally and ran away from my house with all my jwellery and 70 thousand in cash , so that I cannot even reach to police station due to the shortage of cash as that was a corona period, where it was hard to move out to withdrew any cash and for any help . Now it seems difficult to survive as I am getting life threat on every day basis , so please provide me consultancy on same with all my privacy without making it public and let me know how can I send him & his group behind the bar and can punish them brutally as he has stored some fake proof as well , where it shows that I myself was interested in that bloody criminal , I don’t know how come he managed those text from my phone, it can be verified later , his number is 8826129428 , 8356096442. He’s is a powerful man and having many police officers in his contact so again I am requesting you to keep it private.