Mumbai: Social taboo and family pressure have compelled many sexual assault victims not to undergo medical checkup within a week or month after the abhorrent act, revealed a retrospective study conducted by the civic-run Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital.
As per the findings published in the Journal of South Asian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, over 30% of victims underwent a medical examination within a month or year of the incident, while only 20% and 8.4% of cases were reported within 24 hours or week, respectively.
According to the data, 75 of the 130 victims (57.69%) were below the age of 18 at the time of the incident, 36 (27.69%) were in the age group of 18-25, 16 (12.35%) were aged between 25 and 40 years and three (2.3%) were above 40.
Common age group of sexual assault victims
A senior doctor said, “The aim of the study was to do a retrospective observational analysis and determine the common age group of sexual assault victims, their socio-economic status, demographic background and relationship with the accused.”
Dr Ashok Anand, senior gynaecologist at the JJ hospital, said there is a need of awareness related to sexual assault cases, which need to be reported to hospital at the earliest, easing diagnosis and helping the police to nab the culprit. Most cases are reported late due to stigma hence posing difficulty in medical examination.
“If the victim comes to hospital within hours of the incident, we take samples and smears for testing, which can help the police to nail the culprit. We urge not to hide such incidents which lead to mental issues in victims and they fear coming forward,” he said.
Need of sex education
Dr Sagar Mundada, a psychiatrist at the Healthspring healthcare service, said there is a need of sex education for classes between 2 and 4 and they should be taught about good and bad touch. There have been cases where sexual assault victims, especially minors, experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Sometimes it takes weeks, months and years to get out of it, he added.
“Victims are sometimes blamed for the incidents, especially when the culprit is a family member or a known one. The family often asks the victim not to report the matter. So many times, victims go through lots of pressure and have to deal with mental trauma.”
Experts underscored that due to delay in medical examination of the victim, it becomes difficult to prove who is the culprit.
