Understanding gender- based crimes through the intersection of criminal psychology and criminal law

Introduction

This article explores how psychological constructs inform the investigation, evidence, adjudication, and sentencing of gender-based violence (GBV) cases in India. The intersection discussed here refers to the way psychological insights—such as trauma responses, cognitive distortions, and learned behaviour—map onto legal elements like consent, mens rea, and witness credibility. Within the statutory framework of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA), the discussion highlights how trauma-informed approaches can transform the handling of sexual offences, shape courtroom assessments, and influence sentencing and rehabilitation practices.

Contextualising the intersection

Criminal psychology explains behavioural motives and trauma reactions that the law must interpret through evidence and mens rea. Under the BNS, Chapter V (Sexual Offences) covers these crimes: §64 defines rape, including Exception 2 on marital rape; §65–§66 address aggravated forms; §67 criminalises sexual intercourse with a wife living separately without consent; and §74–§77 deal with outraging modesty, sexual harassment, disrobing, and voyeurism. The BSA §48 now codifies rape-shield protections, ensuring a survivor’s past sexual history is inadmissible to prove consent. Psychological research contextualises how trauma affects testimony—tonic immobility and freezing dispel the notion that lack of resistance equals consent; fragmented memory from trauma explains minor inconsistencies; and delayed FIRs often stem from fear or shame, which courts have recognised as reasonable when properly explained (State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh, 1996).

Gender based crime statistics in India

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), India recorded 445,256 cases of crimes against women in 2022. The largest categories were cruelty by husband or relatives (~144,000), rape (31,516), and assault with intent to outrage modesty (~83,000). National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5, 2019–21) reports that 29.3% of ever-married women aged 18–49 have experienced spousal violence. These figures confirm that most gender-based violence is perpetrated by known individuals—aligning with psychological findings that such crimes arise from control and entitlement rather than sexual impulse.

Psychological dimension of gender-based crimes

Gender-based crimes are rooted in power, entitlement, and cognitive distortions reinforced by patriarchal conditioning. Criminal psychology identifies patterns of coercive control and learned aggression that underpin domestic violence and sexual offences. The Duluth Power and Control model, adapted to Indian contexts, illustrates how abusers employ economic control, isolation, and emotional manipulation. In marital rape debates, psychology exposes the fallacy of ‘conjugal rights’ as a justification for non-consensual acts. While the marital rape exception (BNS §64, Exception 2) persists, §67 criminalises non-consensual intercourse with a separated wife—showing incremental legal acknowledgment of autonomy and consent.

Legal framework and judicial psychodynamics

Courts increasingly recognise the need for trauma-informed adjudication. The Supreme Court in Lillu @ Rajesh v. State of Haryana (2013) and State of Jharkhand v. Shailendra Kumar Rai (2022) prohibited the two-finger test, affirming that such practices violate dignity and are medically irrelevant. Under BSA §48, evidence of a survivor’s past sexual history is inadmissible to prove consent. In Aparna Bhat v. State of MP (2021), the Court directed judges to avoid stereotypes and victim-blaming during bail or sentencing. These rulings mark a psychological shift—away from moral judgment and toward scientific, trauma-sensitive evaluation. ‘Judicial psychodynamics’ describes how unconscious cultural biases influence interpretation, and reform requires awareness training so that empathy and credibility assessment are guided by psychological understanding rather than prejudice.

Intersectionality

The Hathras (2020) and Kathua (2018) cases exemplify how caste and communal hierarchies intersect with sexual violence, compounding trauma and obstructing fair trial outcomes. Rather than citing unsourced conviction statistics, it is sufficient to note that systemic impunity persists, especially where survivors belong to Scheduled Castes or minority groups. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act provides aggravated charges for such offences, but enforcement gaps and inadequate witness protection undermine its potential. Psychologically, such structural failures deepen collective trauma and distrust in legal institutions.

Sentencing and rehabilitation

Sentencing increasingly considers psychological assessments that gauge risk of re-offending, substance-use disorders, and impulse control. However, India’s prison system suffers from a shortage of forensic psychologists and counsellors. According to Prison Statistics India reports, rehabilitation programs remain limited and unevenly implemented. Integrating psychology into sentencing could enable behavioural interventions, substance abuse treatment, and empathy development, making justice reformative as well as retributive.

Societal and policy implications

The law-psychology interface must guide capacity building for police, prosecutors, and judges. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have issued standard operating procedures for sensitive handling of rape investigations, which should be implemented alongside One-Stop Centres (OSCs) and helpline services (181) linking survivors to legal and psychological support. Media reports, such as Sabrang India (2025), note that under 4% of the Nirbhaya Fund has been effectively utilised in key states—underscoring the need for transparent monitoring of survivor assistance programs.

Conclusion

The application of criminal psychology in the legal response to gender-based violence represents a paradigm shift from punitive formalism to an integrated pursuit of justice. It transforms the system from posing the question of only “Was a crime committed?” to “What behavioural, social, and psychological conditions caused and sustained it? ” By integrating trauma-informed and psychologically informed practice into each phase of the process—investigation, trial, sentencing—the law comes closer to addressing the lived experiences of survivors and offenders. Psychological evidence contributes to shattering deeply ingrained myths about consent, credibility, and resistance that have so compromised survivor testimony.”.

When courts acknowledge symptoms of trauma like delayed reporting, dissociative recall, or emotional numbing as part of the normative response to violence and not as signs of untruth, they restore the dignity of survivors and increase evidentiary justice. Similarly, knowledge of the offender’s cognitive distortions, power-and-control dynamics, and learned aggression equip judges and parole boards with the background information necessary for appropriate sentencing, risk assessment, and rehabilitation planning. In the Indian system, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) set the stage for such harmonisation in provisions that protect dignity, ban irrelevant sexual-history evidence, and establish trauma-sensitive interpretation. But these improvements have to be complemented with institutional support—compulsory gender-sensitization of police and judiciary, widening forensic psychological facilities in jails, and sustained rollout of survivor support mechanisms like One-Stop Centres (OSCs) and 181 helplines. Eventually, the real potential of combining law and psychology is to turn justice into a broadening exercise from one of punishment to one of restoration and regeneration. A system cognizant of the human psyche not only penalizes transgression but also discourages repetition, restores trust in institutions, and facilitates collective healing. When the law speaks with psychological sophistication, it stops being retributive—it becomes transformative.

List of references

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6. State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh, (1996) 2 SCC 384.
7. Lillu @ Rajesh v. State of Haryana, (2013) 14 SCC 643.
8. State of Jharkhand v. Shailendra Kumar Rai, (2022) SCC OnLine SC 543.
9. Aparna Bhat v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2021) 13 SCC 744.
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15. Duluth Model. (2023). The Power and Control Wheel. Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, Minnesota, USA. Retrieved from https://www.theduluthmodel.org