'We Have Been Made Invisible': Male Rape Victims On New BNS Ignoring Old 377 IPC

'Invisibilisation' of the LGBTQIA+ people, is how male victims of rape have described the new Bharat Nyay Sanhita (BNS) 2023, which has no criminal provisions to protect men, transgenders, and other sexual minorities from sexual assault.

Though the community, lawyers, and social activists had been drawing the government's attention to the fact that the draft of the new law had no provision to replace Section 377 in the old Indian Penal Code (IPC), the enforcement of the latest act in July without a similar section is seen as an act of indifference. Section 377 dealt with 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman, or animal', under which anal rape and bestiality were criminalised. The section was read down in 2018 by the Supreme Court to decriminalise sex between consenting adults of the same gender. The law thus remained as a protection for male rape survivors, women who were subjected to non-vaginal rape, and animals that were sexually assaulted.

Ankit Bhuptani, an LGBTQIA activist, said that the omission of the section will have a tremendous impact on the community. "Because you need laws to protect every section of society and the new law is not inclusive," said Bhuptani who added that it was shocking that such a drastic change in the law was not debated well in parliament before it was enforced.

Harish Iyer, equal rights activist, said that the gay community never wanted section 377 to go away. "There was a reason: we had a problem with the provision because the section criminalised consensual sex between adults. However, with the provision gone completely now there is nothing in law to criminalise sexual assault on men, genders other than women, and animals," said Iyer.

LGBTQ organisations have now started an online petition on change.org to draw attention to the glaring omission. The petition days that the BNS 2023 omits these provisions of IPC 377band 'misreads' jurisprudence developed on IPC 377 and presumes that only women are vulnerable to rape. 

The petition, submitted by Vaivab Das, says that the National Crimes Record Bureau of India registered 826 and 955 cases under IPC 377 for 2020 and 2021 respectively. It asks the government to review 'this glaring omission The petition has received over 10,000 signatures from supporters.

"It ignores the recommendation of the 246th report by the Standing Committee on Home Affairs which notes that BNS 2023 has no provision for non-consensual sexual offences against males, transgender persons, and non-humans (animals). The Indian Government, in its fixation on females (assigned at birth) as the only recipients of sexual violence, stands to forget men and transgender persons, who are sexually coerced in homes, educational campuses, offices, streets, prisons, conflict zones, and sexual violence motivated by inter-caste positions, ethnicity, religion, medical dependency, and disability," the petition reads.

Iyer described the omission of a specific section to punish sexual assault on men as 'invisibilisation' of the community. "I think this (the omission) is not a sign of hatred but worse: an indifference to the community and an inability to understand that the community exists," said Iyer, who said that he is a survivor of rape.

Author and former journalist Sharif Rangnekar, who signed the petition and posted a comment on social media on his personal experience as a victim of sexual assault, said that even when section 377 existed, there was a reluctance from victims to file complaints because of possible threats of blackmail and shaming. "Now, even if the police are not being biased, they would not know where to file a case," said Rangnekar. "The consultation process for the new law was not thorough. 

"Men were anyways shy about sexual assault or harassment. It has taken time to talk about it, now there is no agency to speak about it," said Bhuptani who added that he was talking to lawyers about the possibility of filing a petition in the Supreme Court to get the government to relook at the law.