An analysis of witness protection to victims of sexual offence

Sexual Offences are often committed in secluded places. So, in such cases only the victim who is the eye witness plays a pivotal role. The victims of rape are threatened for life or influenced to wangle inanimate justice. This violates the principle of fair trial which is most basic principle in criminal law. Thus, in order to uphold the fair trial, it is necessary to provide witness protection to victims of sexual offence. This paper will deal with the idea of witness protection to victims of sexual offence in order to uphold the principle of fair trial. It will focus upon the legislative aspects of witness protection in cases of offence of rape and sexual harassment and it will also focus upon the judicial perspective for witness protection. It will analyse various case laws where Supreme Court has given elaborate guidelines for witness protection. This paper also focuses upon justifying principle of natural justice in cases of sexual offences by providing witness protection.