Reg. potency tests

Indian police  arrested Asaram Bapu, a spiritual guru, on suspicion of assaulting a teenager last month. The guru has said he is innocent and police haven’t filed formal charges against him.

As part of their investigation, police required the guru – who is 75 years old – to undergo a so-called “potency” test.

According to “Modi’s Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology,” a textbook used for teaching in hospitals, and as a reference book in courts, “in India, a suspect/accused is routinely sent to the doctors by Judicial Magistrates and the police for the examination of s*xual potency.”

The test is meant to establish that the suspect is physically capable of committing the alleged s*xual acts. But doctors who have treated s*xual dysfunction say that Indian law can be a little vague on what exactly constitutes “potency” and how to determine it.

NDTV news channel reported on Monday that the guru passed his potency test, but it did not provide other details on the exam. A police official in charge of the investigation could not immediately be reached for comment on what was involved in the test taken by Mr. Asaram, who uses only one name.

The guru’s spokesman, Sunil Wankhede, said he could not provide details about the test because he has had limited contact with the spiritual leader since his arrest. A lawyer for the guru could not be reached for comment.

The medical jurisprudence textbook says that doctors may look at whether a suspect has an “obvious anatomical anomaly.”

The “absence of the male organ” would constitute “absolute impotence,” the book says. It adds that genetic disorders or illnesses that affect the ability to have s*x should also be taken into account.

The medical exam includes a physical check-up and “relevant investigations by an urologist,” the book adds. A psychiatric evaluation may also be useful since “the majority of male impotence, particularly in young men, is due to psychological causes.”

In the past, suspects may have even occasionally been called on to masturbate, according to the medical jurisprudence textbook, which advises against this.

“Suspects/accused are regularly produced before doctors for this testing believing that a person who can ejaculate can be considered potent s*xually,” said the textbook. “This repulsive practice is a violation of the dignity of a person.”

The test isn’t just conducted on elderly suspects; younger suspects facing s*xual assault allegations can be made to undergo such examinations as well.

Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh on Monday told The Wall Street Journal that the suspects being investigated for their involvement in the gang rape of a Mumbai journalist last month would also be sent for potency tests.

“We want to build a solid case,” said Mr. Singh.

Four men, three of whom are in their 20s while one is in his late teens, according to police, have been arrested in that case but have not been formally charged. A fifth suspect, who is a minor, is being detained at a juvenile home.  The suspects could not be reached for comment. None of the suspects has yet retained a lawyer, Mumbai police said on Friday.

These days, men who have to undergo an exam related to impotence for legal purposes, are likely to be given one of two diagnostic texts, doctors say.

One of these is something called the Nocturnal Penile Tumescence, NPT for short, which measures the number of spontaneous erections that occur at night, usually during the rapid-eye-movement phase of sleep, and whether these fall within the typical range.

“A gadget is attached to the patient and this is usually done in the sleep lab. We can send the apparatus home with the patient also,” said Dr. D. Ramesh, a urologist based in Bangalore and secretary of the Urological Society of India, explaining how the NPT test works. The device measures changes in the size of the penis through the night. “It is just like recording brain activity.”

Another test to examine whether a man is physically likely to be able to have an erection is the Penile Color Doppler sonography an ultrasound test that measures blood flow to the penis. “If blood flow is very low it would strongly suggest someone has a physiological problem,” said Dr. Rupin S. Shah, a Mumbai-based andrologist, a medical specialization focusing on the male reproductive system and s*xual function.

But both doctors says that impotence (or its opposite) is often situational and driven by psychological factors to a much greater extent than lawyers or courts are willing to consider.

“Very often when the government asks for a potency test, they just do a physical exam and ask for a semen test and hormone test,” said Dr. Shah. “The doctors will go up and say ‘I did this test and that test and it showed he was normal.’”

“A man could have normal hormones and a normal sperm count but be impotent s*xually and vice-versa,” added Dr. Shah.

Indian law also doesn’t take into account changes in medicine that make the question of potency even more complicated, he said.

“There are now many drugs and devices that allow a man who is otherwise impotent to have intercourse,” he said. “Where do you classify this — as originally impotent but potentially potent?”

Doctors say that the issue of what constitutes impotency is an important legal one in India, as it is often an allegation that comes up during divorce proceedings. Male impotence is one of the accepted grounds for seeking a divorce in India, where divorcing couples are required to present a court with the reasons for their split.

“You have divorce petitions where the spouse comes and alleges this guy is impotent,” said Dr. Ramesh. “And the husband says, ‘I am potent, give me a certificate.’ No way can I prove or disprove that.”

Dr. Shah agrees that impotence is a very common reason for seeking divorce. More broadly, he noted that in his practice he has found s*xual dysfunction to be commonplace among Indian couples. While it is more common among younger couples who are unfamiliar with one another, he says he knows of couples married for nearly 20 years who have never had s*x.

The lack of s*x is due to a variety of factors, which can include fear of s*x and cases where the husband is attracted to other men but has not acknowledged it. But sometimes the doctor has found that the issue can be resolved with information.

“Very often there is a lack of knowledge or technique,” said Dr. Shah. “They just do it wrong.”

Potency tests institutions will be decided by the court.

The above material is a post is an extract from indiarealtime.com

How potent both are is very difficult to analyze for the court.  If both are not compatible then better take MCD and move on.  Then later both remarry and produce kids untill which time dont let each others partners out of sight, ie till the time you know that she is pregnant by her husband only and your wife is pregnant by you only.  That is real potency test !

well advised sir @ Gyan