5 min readNov 2, 2026 02:34 PM IST First published on: Nov 2, 2026 at 02:34 PM ISTOn August 4, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women described Zero FIR as one of the new criminal laws’ most progressive provisions. Under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, a woman can walk into the nearest police station to get her FIR registered, regardless of where the offence has taken place. In her words, it “places accessibility before technicalities”. It was the 2013 Justice Verma Committee, constituted in the aftermath of the December 2012 gangrape, that first recommended the recording of Zero FIRs in cases of sexual violence. Since then, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued several advisories stating that an FIR must be registered irrespective of territorial jurisdiction and that refusal to do so will result in prosecution and disciplinary action against the police officer.Yet, even today, police remain resistant to filing Zero FIRs. It takes painful persuasion and reiteration of the law to convince them to do so. But what happens immediately after a Zero FIR is filed? Accessibility ends and the ordeal of the victim begins. The FIR is transferred to the police station with jurisdiction, and every procedure thereafter is done in that jurisdiction.AdvertisementTake the case of Mitra (name changed), a 15-year-old who lives in one of the poorest slums of Mumbai. Mitra is an orphan who lives with her two brothers, one 18 and the other 13. Her elder brother does delivery work to support the family. None of the siblings have attended school since their father died four years ago. Mitra was taken by her friend to Raigad district, where she was brutally raped and beaten. When she missed her periods, she shared her ordeal with a local NGO. With great difficulty, we filed a Zero FIR at a police station near her home. The next day, the case was transferred to Raigad, and the police insisted that Mitra travel to Raigad, a four-hour journey each way from her home, for the procedure. We explained to them Mitra’s vulnerabilities — her pregnancy, her motion sickness, her younger brother being home alone, loss of wages for her elder brother — but they refused to budge. They even threatened us with severe action if we did not cooperate.Also Read | A blanket reduction of the age of consent won’t make vulnerable girls any saferMitra and her elder brother were forced to travel several times to Raigad at their own cost. They were made to wait for hours for spot identification, panchnama, Mitra’s medical examination — which took a few days — recording of her statement before a magistrate, and production before the CWC. We had spoken to the government hospital near her home for the medical termination of Mitra’s pregnancy, but the police refused.Eventually Mitra was admitted to a shelter in Raigad. To conduct her MTP, Mitra was admitted to a hospital where she spent almost 20 days with no clear information on when the procedure would begin. The child victim was not informed who her support person was. Her elder brother was made to run from pillar to post simply to meet her. For the past one-and-a-half months, the police have repeatedly called him to the Raigad police station and court. Mitra has not yet been granted the Maharashtra victim compensation, whose interim compensation is meant to reach her within seven days.AdvertisementA zero FIR is a good provision, but it must be extended to every procedure where the victim is required to attend thereafter. Much of what Mitra was made to travel for could have been carried out close to her home. To make the Zero FIR truly accessible, the state must issue clear and enforceable directions that ensure survivors receive support at their doorstep. Two suggestions that come to mind: In the case of a Zero FIR, as far as possible, the medical examination, magistrate statement recording, CWC production and shelter placement should be arranged near the survivor’s place of residence, and if a survivor must be called to another district, the state must provide transport, not only for her but for a family member or support person accompanying her.you may likeThe measure of a progressive law is how it treats victims after she finds the courage to speak. If reporting rape costs a family its income, its safety and its stability, it’s not surprising that families choose silence.The writer is the director of Majlis, a legal centre for women and children