Presumptions Under Sexual Offences in India

'Item quilbet presumitur innocens nisi probetur nocens¿ - a person is to be presumed to be innocent until he is proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt- the golden thread running through the veins of an accusatorial system of justice. What if the golden thread is broken? What if irreparable injury to life and reputation is caused by the sheer ignorance of the core principles of criminal jurisprudence? Are sexual offences a license to override the general rules and turn the tables on the accused? Many unanswerable questions lie in the heart of the legislations made in India to combat sexual offences whose legality stays questionable in the light of the established and time-tesed theories of jurisprudence. The Presumptions in Sexual Offences is a research work that aims to throw light on the legality, rationality and constitutionality of these presumptions operating in the legislations regarding sexual offences against women and children.