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The brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman in a bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012 was horrific, ultimately resulting in death. The incident led to huge protests by thousands of citizens, especially young women and men, demanding concrete action. The protests following the “Delhi bus rape” led to the appointment of a Committee headed by an ex-Chief Justice of India, which within a month submitted a report suggesting concrete measures like creating a broad offence of sexual assault instead of the present narrow definition of rape and making voyeurism and stalking distinct offences. Some of the measures have been incorporated through the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013.
Physical contact, explicit sexual overtures, demand for sexual favors, showing pornography against the will of a woman and making sexually colored remarks have been made into the offences of sexual harassment by the 2013 Amendment. Stalking and voyeurism have been made into specific offences. Earlier these acts were prosecutable under the Indian Penal Code enacted in 1860, which in a quaintly Victorian provision made “assault with the intention of outraging the modesty of a woman” punishable. The definition of rape till now restricted to penile-vaginal penetration has now been widened to include acts like insertion of objects and other body parts. Prior to the amendment these acts were being prosecuted under another quaint provision titled “Unnatural offences”. After a lot of debate with regard to making the offence of rape gender-neutral, the law has retained the gender specificity of rape as an offence perpetrated by a man on a woman. The changes have been brought about through years of efforts by women's groups. It is early days - the amendments have been brought into effect in February 2013. As the future unfolds, the degree of impact of the new changes on ground realities and practice, in the face of the dominant deeply set patriarchal values, sexist and misogynist attitudes of Indian society, wou