PIL seeking to examine link between pornography, sexual crimes withdrawn from SC

New Delhi [India], September 12 : A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the Supreme Court by advocate Nalin Kohli seeking directions to the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) to collect data in a time-bound manner from all the state police organizations on the specific issue of investigations revealing a direct link between the viewing of pornographic material and crime of rape was withdrawn from the Supreme Court.
The PIL was withdrawn after the advocate failed to convince the bench about the submission.
The matter was heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit with Justice Ravindra Bhat. During the hearing, Justice Bhat cited a US Court judgement on a plea seeking to ban the internet to certain sections of people to reduce porn. Justice Bhat quoted US Court, that it can't set the house on fire to roast a pig.
During the hearing, the petitioner argued that India has the highest number of porn viewers to which the court observed that India also has the largest users of the internet and said that it is not the subject matter but where it is likely to lead to. The bench also remarked that the government has enough arsenal to block that offensive part.
The petition had sought to direct authorities of all the state police organizations, to collect data in a time-bound manner on the specific issue of investigations to confirm a link between the viewing of pornographic material and crime of rape and also consider formulating an SOP by its police to include the aspect of viewing of pornographic material while investigating cases of rape and sexual assault and to make available such data from their respective police/investigation agencies to the BPRD.
The Petitioner apprised the Court of an investigation by the Police in the State of Assam into the gruesome murder of a 6-year-old girl wherein it was revealed that the four perpetrators of the crime (including two minor boys between 8 and 11) were porn addicts. As a consequence of this, the Assam Police had issued guidelines to be followed by the investigating officer for collecting digital evidence while investigating offenses related to rape, molestation and other sexual offenses.
The petitioner said he preferred the petition in light of the alarming increase in cases of sexual assault and rape against women and innocent children in various parts of the country. The petitioner said he feels responsible to raise this issue which may have significant and long-term implications in terms of preventing incidents of sexual abuse and violence against women and children.
"It is not surprising that news articles, as well as police investigations on rape and murder, are increasingly pointing towards the existence of a link between watching pornographic content and/or sexually explicit content, particularly of a violent/non-consensual nature that appears to have acted as a stimulus for committing rape and/or sexual assault, and thereafter even murder, in an attempt to eliminate evidence, " the petitioner said.
"Unfortunately, our newspapers on a daily basis are filled with extremely disturbing and distressing news of rape and sexual abuse against all age groups. The most appalling fact of such news is that many of the victims of such crimes are children including infants. This becomes a matter of even greater concern in an environment where sex education for appropriate sexual behaviour is not part of the education system and treated as socially inappropriate and even a taboo, " the petitioner further said.
Studies have highlighted the link between pornographic viewing and sexual crimes against women and children, the petition said.