Protection of Women under the BNS, 2023: A Critical Study of Criminal Liability and Victim Justice

Author

Neelam Vishwakarma


Abstract

 The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), in force since 1 July 2024, replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and, for the first time, gathered the offences against women into a single chapter placed ahead of offences against property and the State. This paper examines whether that re-ordering reflects a real change in how Indian criminal law protects women, or a re-numbering of a regime shaped over decades by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Acts of 2013 and 2018 and by Supreme Court directions. It studies the principal provisions on sexual offences, harassment, stalking, voyeurism, dowry death, matrimonial cruelty, acid attack and trafficking, together with the procedural safeguards in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) that determine whether a complainant can actually reach a remedy. It argues that the BNS adds a few meaningful provisions, notably on deceitful sexual relations and on disclosure of a victim's identity, but retains the structural limits that have most affected victims: the marital rape exception, the gendered framing of several offences, the debate over misuse of cruelty provisions, and the gap between prescribed punishment and actual access to justice. The paper concludes with reforms aimed at making criminal liability and victim justice work together.



Keywords

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; women; sexual offences; domestic cruelty; victim justice; gender justice; BNSS.



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References


Statutes and constitutional provisions. Constitution of India, Articles 14, 15(3), 21 and 51A(e). Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Chapter V and sections 115, 116, 124, 143 and 144. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, sections 173, 176, 183, 184, 193, 360, 366 and 395 to 397. Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. Indian Penal Code, 1860, sections 304B, 354 to 354D, 370, 375 to 376E, 498A and 509. Criminal Law (Amendment) Acts, 2013 and 2018. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979.

Cases cited.

Case

Citation

Point

Tukaram v. State of Maharashtra (Mathura)

(1979) 2 SCC 143

Custodial rape; consent and resistance

Rupan Deol Bajaj v. K.P.S. Gill

(1995) 6 SCC 194

Outraging modesty

Delhi Domestic Working Women's Forum v. Union of India

(1995) 1 SCC 14

Compensation and assistance to rape victims

State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh

(1996) 2 SCC 384

Sensitivity in trial; victim's testimony

Bodhisattwa Gautam v. Subhra Chakraborty

(1996) 1 SCC 490

Rape and Article 21

Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan

(1997) 6 SCC 241

Workplace sexual harassment

Kans Raj v. State of Punjab

(2000) 5 SCC 207

Dowry death; "soon before"

Uday v. State of Karnataka

(2003) 4 SCC 46

Consent and promise of marriage

Raju Pandurang Mahale v. State of Maharashtra

(2004) 4 SCC 371

Modesty of a woman

Preeti Gupta v. State of Jharkhand

(2010) 7 SCC 667

Misuse concerns, s. 498A

Lillu v. State of Haryana

(2013) 14 SCC 643

Two-finger test

Laxmi v. Union of India

(2014) 4 SCC 427

Acid attack

Lalita Kumari v. Government of U.P.

(2014) 2 SCC 1

Mandatory registration of FIR

Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar

(2014) 8 SCC 273

Arrest in cruelty cases

Independent Thought v. Union of India

(2017) 10 SCC 800

Age in marital exception

K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India

(2017) 10 SCC 1

Privacy and dignity

Mukesh v. State (NCT of Delhi)

(2017) 6 SCC 1

Delhi gang rape

Rajesh Sharma v. State of U.P.

(2017) 8 SCC 746

Cruelty complaints; safeguards

Social Action Forum for Manav Adhikar v. Union of India

(2018) 10 SCC 443

Withdrawal of Rajesh Sharma directions

Pramod Suryabhan Pawar v. State of Maharashtra

(2019) 9 SCC 608

False promise of marriage

Nipun Saxena v. Union of India

(2019) 2 SCC 703

Identity of victims

Mahender Chawla v. Union of India

(2019) 2 SCC 375

Witness protection scheme

Satbir Singh v. State of Haryana

(2021) 6 SCC 1

Dowry death presumption

Aparna Bhat v. State of M.P.

2021 SCC OnLine SC 230

Gender-sensitive bail conditions

Kahkashan Kausar v. State of Bihar

(2022) 6 SCC 599

Omnibus allegations in cruelty cases

Achin Gupta v. State of Haryana

2024 INSC 369 (3 May 2024)

Request to reconsider BNS ss. 85, 86

Marital rape exception batch (including appeal from Karnataka High Court)

Pending before the Supreme Court

Validity of Exception 2 to s. 63 BNS

Secondary sources consulted for recent developments.

 

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