The Shifting Shape of the Rape Discourse

This article reports findings based on non-participant observation during eight weeks of rape trials in a Fast Track Court (FTC) in Lucknow, established exclusively to hold trials of cases involving ‘crimes against women’. Research methods included an in-depth study of 15 ‘disposed off’ case files, in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 lawyers and focus group discussions (FGDs) with police officials held at 15 police stations in Lucknow district. Around 50 per cent of the rape trials were found to be related to the offence of statutory rape in cases of runaway marriages of minors. Another distinct category of cases that came to trial as rape cases were those involving ‘breaking of or false promise of marriage’. This article problematises and contests the construction of these categories of cases as ‘rape’ and argues that it points to a shift and hijack of the rape discourse by patriarchal familial and legal forces