2. Review It has been reported that police would put all manners of hurdles in even registering cases of domestic violence, even when the victims feared for their very lives. In cases where wives had been murdered, the police have at times, been found to play an active role in destroying evidence and passing off these cases as suicides or accidental deaths – simply because, it has been alleged, they had been bribed. 21 The policemen need to take the domestic violence cases seriously and must do the needful in all the cases. They must be sympathetic to women victims and give due respect to their primacy. Also, they must inform the aggrieved person of her right to obtain relief by way of a protection order whenever a complaint of domestic violence is received or an officer is present at the place of an incident of domestic violence.22 D. Rape Rape is one of the most reprehensible crimes and is often unreported. It has threatened women of all countries since time immemorial. Between 1990 and 2008, reported rapes soared by 112 percent nationwide, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, while cases of molestation and sexual harassment also increased between 2001 and 2008. Such figures likely understate the problem. Many survivors of sexual violence do not report attacks because they fear ridicule or retribution, as well as assumptions that victims of sexual assault are “bad,” “loose,” or otherwise responsible for the attack. Survivors and their families may also be reluctant to subject themselves to the criminal justice system, which offers no victim and witness support and protection program, and which may inflict additional trauma. Not least of the disincentives for reporting abuse is the prospect of undergoing a forensic examination. Evidence collection techniques are rarely standardized and are frequently difficult. Too often, survivors must make grueling trips from one hospital or ward to another, and receive multiple examinations at each stop. Medical workers frequently collect evidence inadequately or insensitively, and it may then be lost, poorly 21 Legal Status and Remedies for Women in India –Mukherjee, Roma, Deep and Deep Publications 1997 22 Section 5 of The Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Manual on Human Rights for Police Officers 37