What Is Two-Finger Test?: Know Why Jharkhand HC Ordered Complete Ban On Controversial Practice

Ranchi: In an aim at imprving the legal and social landscape for rape survivors, the Jharkhand High Court on Monday has directed the state government to ensure complete prohibition of the controversial two-finger test in all hospitals, holding that it violates privacy, bodily integrity and dignity of rape survivors.

What is the matter?

Some vestiges of the British era still linger in the country, and they should have been abolished long ago. The two finger test is one of them. Police have been conducting such medical examinations for rape victims for decades. The Supreme Court has also set guidelines in this regard. Nevertheless, such cases still arise. Now, in a recent case, the Jharkhand High Court has delivered a significant and historic ruling. The court has directed the state government to completely ban the controversial two finger test in all government and private hospitals.

What did the High Court say?

A division bench comprising of Chief Justice M S Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar passed the direction while hearing a suo-motu PIL in connection with the protection and rehabilitation of rape survivors. 

"The Department of Home, Jail & Disaster Management, Government of Jharkhand, is directed to issue a circular prohibiting the 'two-finger test' in all medical institutions" stated the order.

What is two finger test?

The two-finger test, also known as the virginity test in Hindi, has been around since the British era. This procedure is an old and controversial medical procedure in which doctors would examine a victim's vagina with two fingers to determine whether she had previously had sexual intercourse. It claimed to determine whether a woman was a virgin by checking for laxity of the vaginal muscles or a broken hymen. It was considered a crucial test in judicial investigation procedures developed by the British.

What are the Supreme Court's guidelines?

The Supreme Court has already issued a long list of guidelines in this matter. The Jharkhand High Court's decision is also along similar lines. In 2013 , the Supreme Court clearly stated that the two-finger test on a rape victim violates the dignity and privacy of any woman. Then, in 2022, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli echoed this sentiment. They even went a step further and called for the two-finger test to be removed from the medical college syllabus.