Doctors Performing 'Two Finger Test' will be Guilty of Misconduct
Chennai: Reiterating the fact that the Supreme Court has banned the Two-Finger Test, the Madras High Court has recently stated that the medical practitioners who continue to conduct this banned test will be guilty of misconduct.
Such observation came from the HC bench comprising Justices SS Sunder and Sunder Mohan while going through a Medico-Legal Examination report in a rape case where a Two Finger Test was conducted.
Taking note of this, the HC bench expressed its regret that even after the directions issued in this regard by the Supreme Court and the High Court, this test was still being conducted by the doctors.
The 'two-finger test' is conducted on victims of sexual assault and rape to determine whether they are habituated to sexual intercourse. Last year, the Supreme Court deprecated the "regressive" and "invasive" practice of the 'two-finger test' on rape survivors and said it has no scientific basis and instead re-victimises women who may have been sexually assaulted, and is an affront to their dignity.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that back then, the Apex Court had said that it is "patriarchal" and "sexist" to suggest that a woman cannot be believed when she states that she was raped, merely for the reason that she is sexually active.
Banning this test, the Supreme Court bench had also mentioned at that time that any person who conducts the two-finger test or per vaginum examination (while examining a person alleged to have been subjected to a sexual assault) in contravention of the directions of this court shall be guilty of misconduct.
Further issuing directions to remove this test from the syllabus, the bench had mentioned, "Conduct workshops for health providers to communicate the appropriate procedure to be adopted while examining survivors of sexual assault and rape; and review the curriculum in medical schools with a view to ensuring that the two-finger test or per vaginum examination is not prescribed as one of the procedures to be adopted while examining survivors of sexual assault and rape."
As per the latest media report by Live Law, while coming across a Medico-Legal Examination report in a rape case where the Two Finger Test had been conducted, the Madras High Court expressed its regret that the doctors were still continuing ti conduct this banned test and noted, "However, we notice regrettably that two finger test had been conducted in the instant case, though the Hon'ble Supreme Court and this Court in several cases have repeatedly held that such a test is neither acceptable nor desirable to ascertain whether the victim was subjected to sexual intercourse. We take this opportunity to remind the Doctors that if they conduct any test in contravention of the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the State of Jharkhand Vs. Shailender Kumar @ Pandav Rai, reported in (2022) 14 SCC 289, they shall be guilty of misconduct as held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court."
Last year, introducing a major change, the Apex Medical Regulator, the National Medical Commission (NMC) had also decided to teach the MBBS students about the unscientific, inhumane and discriminatory sides of virginity tests and two finger tests of female genitalia.
Further, the Commission had also decided teaching the medical students how to guide the courts, which often orders it in matrimonial suits, about the unscientific nature of the signs of virginity and the related tests.
NMC took this decision on the basis of the recommendations of the Expert Panel set up by the President of UG Medical Education Board Dr. Aruna Vanikar on the orders of the Madras High Court to address the issues about LGBTQIA+ community in the MBBS curriculum. The issue of virginity was added in the domain of the expert panel on the request made by Dr Indrajit Khandekar, Professor of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS), Sevagram- Wardha.
Also Read: NMC to modify MBBS curriculum to address issues on Virginity Tests, Two finger Tests
