Nirbhaya case led to tougher provisions and penalties under the Criminal Amendment Act of 2013. The victim died of the brutal injuries inflicted on her. The case also led to amendments in the Juvenile Justice Act as one of the accused in the case was a juvenile. On 7 May 2015, the Lok Sabha passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, which seeks to allow children in the 16-18 age group to be tried as adults for heinous crimes. It is yet to be passed by the Rajya Sabha.
Bhanwari Devi case: Bhanwari Devi is an Indian dalit social-worker from Bhateri, Rajasthan, who was allegedly gang raped in 1992 by higher-caste men angered by her efforts to prevent a child marriage in their family. Her subsequent treatment by the police, and court acquittal of the accused, attracted widespread national and international media attention, and became a landmark episode in India’s women’s rights movement The apex court’s judgment in 1997, issued the Vishaka guidelines that put the onus on employers to provide a safe work environment for women.
Satya Rani Chadha case: Chadha launched the anti-dowry movement across India after her daughter died of burns in a dowry harassment case in 1979. Her agitation led to the government passing tighter laws against dowry deaths, shifting the burden of proof to the husband and his family, and making not just the husband but also his close relatives culpable.
Shah Bano case: On 23 April 1985, the Supreme Court granted maintenance to Shah Bano Begum, a 62-year-old Muslim mother of five who had been divorced by her husband, under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Under pressure from the Islamic orthodoxy, the then Congress government, which had an absolute majority in Parliament, diluted this judgment by enacting The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986—entitling a divorced Muslim woman to maintenance only during the period of iddat, or a period of 90 days after divorce, according to Islamic Law.
Aruna Shanbaug case: Passive euthanasia granted by apex court conditionally in 2011 though the judgement has been suspended and the issue has been referred to a Constitution bench.
That was a great summary of the women inspired cases and verdicts.
But shouldn’t the cancellation of section 66A of IT Act too be a part of this list?
The PIL was filed by Shreya Singhal, after the arrest of 2 girls – Shaheen Dhada & Rinu Shrinivasan.
Pls correct me if I’m wrong.
Thanks, but the credit for the articles goes to Sri Rams IAS page, having said that, all the cases in the article the woman mention faced injustice and because of the outrage (nirbhaya) or the fight they put in (Bhanwari Devi) or injustice to them mixes with religious angle(shah Bano) cases got their names , they woman are the center or catalysts to the reforms.
where are in Shreya Singhal’s case the IT act have many victims from innocent teens to college professors the law was misused and abused by all parties equally. May be the reason for not including it in the list is that awe inspiring Shreya Singhal’s fight she was not the center of the any case?
Thank you for igniting a thought and a useful debate 🙂