West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the second time, seeking central legislation and exemplary punishment for heinous crimes such as rape and rape-murder.
She has also called for mandatory provisions to ensure timely case disposal by trial authorities and expressed concern over the lack of response to her previous letter.
Banerjee's call for stringent laws follows the rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital on August 9.
“You may kindly recall my letter No.44-CM dated August 22, 2024 (copy enclosed) regarding the need for stringent Central legislation on incidents of rape and meting out exemplary punishment to perpetrators of such crimes. No reply was received from your end on such a sensitive issue,” writes Mamata Banerjee.
However, a reply has been received from the minister of women and child development, which barely addresses the gravity of the issue raised in the letter, she added.
“I am of the thought that the seriousness of the subject and its relevance to the society have not been adequately appreciated while sending out this generic reply. Not only so, I would also refer to some of the initiatives in the area that our state has already taken which appears to have been overlooked in the reply,” the letter reads.
She has mentioned the state government has approved 10 exclusive POCSO courts and highlighted the operation of 88 fast-track special courts (FTSCs) and 62 POCSO-designated courts across the state, all funded entirely by the state.
{{/usCountry}}She has mentioned the state government has approved 10 exclusive POCSO courts and highlighted the operation of 88 fast-track special courts (FTSCs) and 62 POCSO-designated courts across the state, all funded entirely by the state.
{{/usCountry}}“Monitoring and disposal of cases is completely in the hands of the courts. As per Central government guidelines, only retired judicial officers can be posted as presiding officers in FTSCs but Hon'ble High Court has observed that in view of the severity of the cases, permanent judicial officers need to be posted. This requires examination at the level of Government of India and suitable action thereafter, for which your intervention would be necessary,” Mamata Banerjee has written.
Helpline numbers 112 and 1098 are satisfactorily working in the state and in addition, Dial - 100 is also extensively used in emergency situations, she added.
“I would reiterate and earnestly request to kindly consider a stringent Central legislation and exemplary punishment on heinous crimes of rape/rape and murder with mandatory provision for disposal of cases in a specific time-frame by the trial authorities. I hope this matter would receive a very considered attention at your kind end in the interest of our society at large,” says the West Bengal chief minister.
Earlier, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had rebuked the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government for its alleged failure to implement crucial safety measures for women and girls.
Women and child development minister Annapurna Devi said that the state has failed to establish the remaining 11 fast-track special courts, despite a backlog of 48,600 rape and POCSO cases.
The Union minister had also said that West Bengal failed to implement key emergency helplines such as the Women Helpline (WHL), Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) and Child Helpline.