Supreme Court agrees to examine if woman can be charged with rape

Women are usually the victims of rape but can a woman be booked in a rape case?
The Supreme Court has agreed to examine this question after a woman petitioned it for anticipatory bail in a rape case also involving her son.
The apex court has asked the Punjab government to respond to the plea filed by a 61-year-old woman who has been implicated in the case filed by her daughter-in-law.
While agreeing to examine the issue, a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol granted the woman protection from arrest and directed her to cooperate with the investigation.
“Issue notice, returnable in four weeks. In the meantime, the petitioner is protected from arrest. But she is expected to cooperate with the investigation of the crime,” the bench said.
At the outset, advocate Rishi Malhotra, who appeared for the woman, argued that all other penal sections in the FIR are bailable barring the charge under Section 376(2)(n) IPC (repeated rape). Conviction under the section entails …