Two-Finger Test
Definition
Discredited per-vaginal examination once used to comment on habituation to intercourse. Banned by the Supreme Court in Lillu @ Rajesh v State of Haryana (2013) and reiterated in 2022.
- Status
- Discredited medical practice
- Purpose historically claimed
- Commenting on habituation to intercourse
- Banning case
- Lillu @ Rajesh v State of Haryana (2013)
- Reaffirmed
- 2022
Common questions
Why was the two-finger test rejected by the courts?+
It has no scientific basis for establishing consent or the truthfulness of a sexual assault allegation, and its use was found to violate the survivor's dignity and privacy, so the Supreme Court barred it as a medicolegal examination practice.
What has replaced the two-finger test in current medicolegal protocols?+
Current guidelines focus the examination on documenting injuries and collecting forensic evidence relevant to the assault, without drawing conclusions about the survivor's sexual history or prior experience from the state of the hymen or vaginal laxity.
Related terms
- Consent
- Under BNS 2023 Explanation 2 to Section 63, unequivocal voluntary agreement by words, gestures or any verbal or non-verbal communication. Absence of...
- Fast-Track Court
- Designated court (often Fast Track Special Court, FTSC) set up under the 2019 scheme to dispose POCSO and rape cases within stipulated...
- Marital Rape Exception
- Exception 2 to BNS 2023 Section 63 (carrying forward IPC 375 Exception 2): intercourse by a man with his own wife not...
- MoH&FW Protocol 2014
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Guidelines and Protocols for Medico-legal Care for Survivors and Victims of Sexual Violence, 2014. Standardised history,...
- Penetration
- Even slight penetration of the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus by the penis, any body part, or any object is sufficient to...
- POCSO 2012
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 (India); establishes criminal liability for child sexual abuse but does not mandate sex-offender...
- Rape (BNS 2023 Section 63)
- Sexual intercourse or specified penetrative acts by a man with a woman without her consent, against her will, by coercion, by misrepresentation,...
- Sexual Assault (POCSO)
- Under POCSO 2012, any non-penetrative sexual touch of a child with sexual intent. Aggravated sexual assault attracts higher punishment when committed by...
- Statutory Rape
- Sexual intercourse with a person below the age of consent (18 in India), regardless of consent. The minor's consent is legally irrelevant.