Mathura Custodial Rape Case

In 1972, a young woman named Mathura was allegedly raped by two policemen on the premises of a police station in Maharashtra, where she and her family had gone in connection with a complaint filed by her brother.

Mathura, reported to be a young Adivasi woman in her teens at the time.

A trial court initially acquitted the accused; the Bombay High Court convicted them on appeal.

The alleged assault took place inside a police station, raising questions about custodial safety that shaped the case's later significance.

In 1979, the Supreme Court (Tuka Ram and Anr. v. State of Maharashtra) set aside the High Court conviction and acquitted the accused, reasoning that the absence of visible injury suggested consent — a judgment that was widely criticised by lawyers and women's rights groups.

Four law professors published an open letter criticising the judgment, and the case catalysed the country's modern anti-rape movement.

Public pressure led to legislative review of rape law by Parliament.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1983 introduced provisions on custodial rape, shifted the burden of proof in some circumstances, and made it an offence to disclose a survivor's identity.

Campaigners have long argued that convictions in custodial-violence cases remained rare relative to reported incidents in the decades that followed.

Referenced as a foundational case in Indian sexual-violence jurisprudence.