HYDERABAD: The distance between law and reality comes to the fore in this matter. In 2013, the Supreme Court of India ruled the ‘two-finger’ test a violation of a sexual assault victim’s privacy. In March 2014, the Union Health Ministry issued guidelines on medico-legal care for survivors of sexual violence, and yet till at least June 2017, the two-finger test, termed ‘insensitive’ and ‘unscientific’, by experts has been conducted in a Telangana government hospital in Hyderabad, as revealed by documents with Express.But what is this two-finger test?
The test involves a medical examiner inserting two fingers into the vagina of a woman or girl during medico-legal examination in sexual assault cases in order to ‘gauge’ if the woman is “habituated” to sexual intercourse. The ‘decision’ is made based on the elasticity of the vagina. The Supreme Court, which is currently hearing a case challenging the constitutional validity of the test, had in 2013 noted that habituation to sexual intercourse did not meant consent of the rape victim could be presumed. The ‘Guidelines and Protocols Medico-legal care for survivors or victims of sexual violence’ issued in March 2014 by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also stated that the Per Vaginum (referred to by lay persons as two-finger test) should not be conducted.
However, Express possesses copies of case sheets that show the test was conducted on at least two survivors of sexual assault by of Niloufer Hospital doctors in Hyderabad this May and June. In a case sheet dated June 1, 2017, an assistant professor of the Obstetrics and Gynecology department noted: “Hymen - not intact. Vagina - admitting two fingers’. In a case sheet dated May 18 , 2017, another assistant professor of the department has noted: “Hymen not intact - introitus admitting one finger”. Introitus refers to the vaginal opening leading to the vaginal cavity.
Dr Indrajit Khandekar, associate professor in Forensic Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences and Kasturba Hospital, Sevagram in Maharashtra, who framed ‘Forensic Medical Care for victims of sexual assault’ guidelines for Department of Health Research, stated that the method is unscientific. “It is not a question of whether a victim was habituated to sexual intercourse. So two-finger test should not be performed. The new guidelines recognizes that the test is in no way scientific and shall not be performed. Besides, fingers size is subjective and results will be subjective too,” Dr Khandekar said. As per new guidelines, the test can only be conducted if required for detection of injuries or for medical treatment.
Sources noted that doctors who perform medico-legal examinations have not been trained in the new guidelines. When doctors from the State were asked to be sent for training on the March 2014 guidelines, a team of five forensic doctors was sent but not gynecologists. Further, the new guidelines and proforma have not been included in all relevant medical textbooks though it is included in ‘Modi A Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology’.
Apart from the use of the two-finger test, doctors also appear to have been conducting needless and invasive examinations of sexual assault survivors. The May 18 case sheet reveals that swabs were taken from the internal vaginal wall, posterior fornix, and cervix of the woman despite the examination being conducted 13 days after the complaint was lodged with police. . “What does one hope to find by collecting samples 13 days after a complaint is lodged. Spermatozoa will disintegrate and remnants of it cannot be examined after 72 hours at any cost,” sources noted.
However, the May 18 document does not specify what the swabs are to be tested for. The guidelines issued in March 2014 state: “If a woman reports within 96 hours (4 days) of the assault, all evidence including swabs must be collected, based on the nature of assault that has occured. When the issue was brought to the notice of Niloufer Hospital authorities, they said it will be inquired into if the tests were performed.