The Two Finger Test: Legal and Ethical Issue

Authors(1) :-G. Kalyani

The Two Finger Test is used to examine whether a survivor of rape or sexual assault is habituated of such sexual intercourse and determine its laxity and whether the hymen is broken which will signify the history of sexual activity of a victim, although the Supreme Court has said that such tests are inhuman and should be banned. Even after the Delhi gang rape case of Dec. 2013, Justice Verma Committee had also recommended the same thing that two finger tests is like another assault to victim and the test should be stopped. The Delhi Government has conceded in its guidelines that two finger test should be banned for the cases of sexual assault and advised doctors to counsel the victims. Two finger test is not the only methods of determining injury to genitalia and signs of penetration but there are other more scientifically accurate methods. Even after passing the guidelines for banning two finger test, on April 20th 2014, just after the Delhi Gang Rape Case a Dalit girl was gang raped and thrown out of a moving bus in Singrauli and having conducted the two finger test, the Madhya Pradesh police arrived at the conclusion and gave the statement in press media that the girl was habituated of sexual activity. This is a general assumption that is the women habituated of sex may also lie about sexual assault.

This paper will emphasise the need for uniform nationwide guidelines which must strictly force the State Governments to stop the practice of two finger test for forensic examination and mere two finger test will not declare the women history of sexual life and such kind tests are against the Article 21 that is Right To Privacy of Indian Constitution and must respect the survivors health, dignity,  consent and there is a urgent need to change the laws and forensic procedures related to sexual assault.

Authors and Affiliations

G. Kalyani
Disha Law College, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India

Right to Privacy, Hymen, laxity, Two Finger Test, Forensic.

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Publication Details

Published in : Volume 2 | Issue 2 | March-April 2016
Date of Publication : 2016-04-30
License:  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Page(s) : 81-85
Manuscript Number : IJSRST162242
Publisher : Technoscience Academy

Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Online ISSN : 2395-602X

Cite This Article :

G. Kalyani, " The Two Finger Test: Legal and Ethical Issue", International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology(IJSRST), Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Online ISSN : 2395-602X, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp.81-85, March-April-2016.
Journal URL : https://ijsrst.com/IJSRST162242
Citation Detection and Elimination     |      | |http://www.commonlii.org/in/journals /INJlConLaw/2007/11.pdf, (3 March 2016)
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  • Dubra Mitra and other, Testing Chastity Evidencing Rape. 2016. http://nludelhi.ac.in/UploadedImages/96d63f5d-9c23-4cb7-aeb6-43774da81992.pdf. (3rd march 2016).
  • Sir Jessy Kuriyan, Two Finger Test- Unscientific, non-reliable.2016. mattersindia.com. http:// mattersindia.com/2015/06/two-finger-test-unscientific-non-reliable/. (4th march 2016).
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  • " target="_blank"> BibTeX | http://www.commonlii.org/in/journals /INJlConLaw/2007/11.pdf, (3 March 2016)
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.2016.www.claiminghumanrights.org. http://www.claiminghumanrights.org/udhr_article_12.html#at13, (3rd march 2016).
  • Dubra Mitra and other, Testing Chastity Evidencing Rape. 2016. http://nludelhi.ac.in/UploadedImages/96d63f5d-9c23-4cb7-aeb6-43774da81992.pdf. (3rd march 2016).
  • Sir Jessy Kuriyan, Two Finger Test- Unscientific, non-reliable.2016. mattersindia.com. http:// mattersindia.com/2015/06/two-finger-test-unscientific-non-reliable/. (4th march 2016).
  •  Sir Jessy Kuriyan, Two Finger Test- Unscientific, non-reliable.2016.mattersindia.com. http://mattersindia.com/2015/06/two-finger-test-unscientific-non-reliable/. (4th march 2016).
  • " target="_blank">RIS | http://www.commonlii.org/in/journals /INJlConLaw/2007/11.pdf, (3 March 2016)
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  • Dubra Mitra and other, Testing Chastity Evidencing Rape. 2016. http://nludelhi.ac.in/UploadedImages/96d63f5d-9c23-4cb7-aeb6-43774da81992.pdf. (3rd march 2016).
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  •  Sir Jessy Kuriyan, Two Finger Test- Unscientific, non-reliable.2016.mattersindia.com. http://mattersindia.com/2015/06/two-finger-test-unscientific-non-reliable/. (4th march 2016).
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