Measures for enhancing safety of women!

By M.Y.Siddiqui

Union Government has taken a number of initiatives for safety of women across the country as supplemental efforts to strengthen the States and Union Territories (UTs). Safety of women, prevention of crimes against them (women) and responsibility to protect life and property of citizens are the job of State/UT police (law enforcement agency) as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. However, the Government of India’s efforts include the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 enacted for effective deterrence against sexual offences, and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 enacted to provide even stringent penal provisions including death penalty for rape of girls below the age of 12 years. The Act also, among others, mandates completion of investigation and filing of charge sheet in rape cases within two months and conclusion of trials in next two months.

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has installed an Emergency Response Support System covering pan India single internationally recognized number (112) based system for all emergencies, with computer aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress. Besides, Safe City Projects have been implemented in the first phase in eight cities, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai, using technology to aid smart policing and safety management for women. Smart City Project of policing will be extended to other cities/towns in due course. MHA has launched a cyber crime reporting portal for people to report  obscene contents and cyber frauds.

MHA has introduced National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO) to facilitate investigations and tackling of sexual offenders all over the country by law enforcement agencies. Added to this, an online analytical tool, Investigation Tackling System for Sexual Offences has been launched to facilitate police to monitor and track time bound investigations in sexual assault cases in keeping with the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018. Central Government has also strengthened DNA analysis units in Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories to improve further the quality of investigations. This includes setting up of state-of-the-art DNA Analysis Unit in Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh. The Centre has also approved setting up and upgrading of DNA Analysis Units in State Forensic Science Laboratories following gap analysis and demand assessment. MHA has also improved the functioning of two projects for setting up and strengthening of Women Help Desks in Police Stations and Anti-Human Trafficking Units in all districts of the country.

Union Government has notified Guidelines for collection of forensic evidences in sexual assault cases and the standard composition in a sexual assault evidence collection kit. To facilitate adequate capacity in manpower, training and skill building, programmes have been undertaken for Investigation Officers (IOs), Prosecution Officers and medical officers. Bureau of Police Research & Development has distributed 14,950 Sexual Assault Evidence Collection kits to the States and UTs for orientation of these officials as part of improving their skills through such kits in the training curricula.

Crimes against women have been increasing year on year except in 2020 when it had decreased 8.3 percent owing to the lockdown caused by the Pandemic and lesser reporting of such crimes. Latest available data on crimes against women is of 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report. Accordingly, recorded crimes against women in 2017 were 359849 followed by 378236 in 2018, up by 5.1 percent, 405326 in 2019, up by 7.1 percent, 371503 in 2020, down by 8.3 percent due to the lockdown, and 428278 in 2021, up by 15.3 percent. Crimes against women in the five previous years  were growing year on year.

Meanwhile, safety of women, drive to prevent and prosecute such crimes has taken a worst hit with the rise of RSS Pariwar as a ruling class since 2014. RSS Pariwar Union Government and its ruled States have been seen to be supportive, both overtly and covertly, of the rapists and assaulters allowing them to go scot-free, with the police conniving in weakening FIRs, botching investigations and weakening of prosecution. Police is either demoralized or busy in the spree to please their political masters. In any case, police is complicit in all cases of crimes against women where RSS Pariwar is involved. Victims suffer in silence facing further victimization in the form of humiliations, indignity and social ostracisation. It is just the other way round wherein shame and ostracisation leave a bitter taste in the mouths of those victims who dare to fight anti-women crimes. The loser is the country with its public image dipping by the day. India is seen to be emerging as a banana republic with the rule of law based Constitutional democratic governance not working or fast disappearing. or functioning unfairly, in a worrisome, communal and partisan way. There are several cases of violence against women, which cannot be mentioned in a short article like this. Nevertheless, civil society, academia, and people at large can debate the issues relevant to women safety in seminars, symposia and other public platforms to mount pressure on the government and make them account for their glaring neglect of the crimes against women just to bring about perceptible changes!

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