Guest Lecture on – Medico-Legal Cases in Clinical and Counselling Practice in India

The Department of Psychology of the SNDT Women’s University at the Churchgate campus collaborated with Ms. Vishakha Punjani, who is a Clinical Psychologist, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at LTMMC & LTMGH (Sion Hospital), Consultant, Pre and Post Litigation Centre, High Court of Bombay for a lecture on Medico-legal Cases in Clinical and Counselling practice in India, with tremendous enthusiasm and great sense of determination for bringing about awareness with regards to the legal scenario in India when it comes to practicing psychology. The lecture was held in room number 601 in the Pathkar Hall building from 2 pm to 4 pm and was initiated with the introduction of Ms. Vishakha Punjani and the Assistant Clinical Psychologist at Sion Hospital, Ms. Tamanna Ali, who were felicitated by Dr. Nilesh Thakre, Head of the Department of Psychology. The introductions were made by Ms. Akshata Joshi. The students comprised both the Clinical and Counselling Psychology streams, who were very excited to learn from such a highly qualified and experienced professional.

The lecture was primarily an interaction and discussion-based session that proved to be more engaging which started with a discussion on mental health, what it is and why it is important. Everyone was asked to share why they chose psychology, particularly the field that they were studying in and what makes psychology students different from other students. Then we delved into a bit of reflection where we discussed the hypocrisy of being a therapist or a psychologist in general (e.g. “are we actually kind, non-judgemental and biased?”). The students were then given a little homework that asked them to think about how different we are from our friends, particularly those who are not related or part of the field of psychology. By this time, great rapport was built with the speaker and such interactions were a very effective ice-breaker for all.

The session proceeded with the discussion of a case, the details being a 47-year-old man who had committed serious sexual crimes against a 3-year-old girl. The man had gone through psychological evaluation where through an IQ test, namely the BKT, his IQ score was 56 which is indicative of mild impairment in intellectual functioning. The speaker shared her experience of how this case was not hers and yet she was wrongly accused of being the psychologist who had conducted the evaluation and now had to deal with the questioning of the prosecution. Questions on the reliability of the test, the validity of having a mild IQ in committing the crime, the ability of the victim to get married or pregnant due to this experience and the credibility of the victim in terms of her memory of her trauma were some of the many inquiries that were asked to the speaker when she was in court representing herself. Discussions were also carried out about the technical aspects of any legal clinical or counselling court case, such as the various departments involved in the investigation, the psychological tests that are likely to be conducted for such an evaluation for both the victim and the accused, and what roles do psychologists, in general, potentially play in the court.

This brought the topic to POCSO Act of 2012, which stands for Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act, where we discussed certain facets of the act in terms of the age range of the act (below 18 years), how it is part of a fast-acting court and how it is legally punishable for not registering or reporting such a crime. The key provisions of the court are zero tolerance sexual offences against children, mandatory reporting, child-friendly process and presumption of guilt. Some special provisions include the child victim to be allowed mandatorily to be only a one time witness, compulsory medical examinations, some compensation, efficient implementation and monitoring. Similarly, the NCPCR, which stands for National Commission for Protection of Child Rights works at the state level as well. Those who have committed penetrative sexual assault have sentence for 7 years to life imprisonment (section 4), for non-penetrative sexual assaults there is imprisonment for minimum of 3 to 5 years while an aggravated assault is commitable for 10 years to life in prison. The special provisions of compensation (section 33), presumption of guilt (section 29) and special courts (26) are a highly important part of the process and an attempted sexual assault is also punishable by law. There is an prescribed capital punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault (section V[I(i)]) in most circumstances if proven true. The speaker also discussed how it was important to request for a copy of what the stenographer is writing, with a signature, for future verification along with the date and time. Moreover, it was also discussed how necessary it is for personal legal safety to ask for a Clearance Certificate from the court to clarify and specify the cessation of your involvement in the case. As time ran out, several queries and questions of the students were answered and a deep discussion of different perspectives of legal situations that involve a psychologist was discussed as well.

The lecture was concluded with a constructive feedback session from the students and Ms. Vishakha Punjani was incredibly insightful and knowledgeable in ways that were unexpected but delightfully informative. It ended with a speech of thanks and appreciation from Miss Akshata Joshi and the session concluded on a positive note.