Hathras case: Women leaders ask Maharashtra home minister to bring law similar to Disha Act

In the backdrop of the horrific rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, and the recently released data by the National Crime Records

In the backdrop of the horrific rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, and the recently released data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), politicians and organisations have demanded for more proactive steps from the government to bring down the crime rate.

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Apart from enactment of the much-promised law to fast track justice in cases of crimes against women within 21 days on the lines of Andhra Pradesh’s Disha Act, the stakeholders, during a meeting with Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday also demanded for installation of CCTVs, a dedicated police force at local level and speedier action in cybercrimes.

Deshmukh met elected women representatives, officer-bearers of women cells of ruling parties and organisations representing women on Tuesday to discuss steps to be taken to keep cases of crime against women in check.

During the meeting, the home department made a presentation and stated that Maharashtra ranked eighth in the country in crimes against women, though it was the second largest populous state.

“According to the presentation made by the police department before us, the recently released NCRB data has revealed that Maharashtra has the third most number of rape cases in the country, but in overall cases of crimes against women, the state ranks eighth. The conviction rate in these cases has improved in the past few years and the number of cases has reduced. The number of the women police personnel and officials deployed is on the rise, the department said during the presentation. The women representatives gave their suggestions and demanded that they be implemented in a time-bound manner,” said an official from the department, who was present at the meeting.

Some of the prominent politicians who attended the meeting were Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) parliamentarian Supriya Sule, legislative Council’s deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe, Congress’s women wing chief Charulata Tokas and Shiv Sena legislators Manisha Kayande and Yamini Jadhav.

In response to the demand for a law on the lines of the Disha Act, Deshmukh said that the draft is ready and being studied by the sub-committee appointed for it. He said that the bill would be introduced at the earliest.

Gorhe demanded for suo motu action by the police in cybercrimes against women.

“The police should take suo motu action on objectionable materials on social media hurting the dignity of women. Section 66A of the Information Technology Act dealing with cybercrimes should be made non-bailable. Immediate assistance and guidance in cases of rape, domestic violence and molestation is important and dedicated contact numbers and email ids of the senior officers should be published for such cases,” she said.

Some of the leaders called for the constitution of protection committees in local bodies and more recruitment of women in the police force. “We were told that there are 29,000 women in the state police force of 2.33 lakh personnel. Deshmukh said that their endeavour is to take the percentage of the women personnel to 30% to match the reserved positions meant in recruitments. We were also told that police help can be reached within 10 minutes on complaints made to the dedicated helpline – 112,” said Vidya Chavan, former legislator from NCP.

Tokas said that she has called for the inclusion of the information about the legal remedies in the crime against women in school and college syllabus.

During the meeting Vishwas Nangare Patil, joint police commissioner (law and order), Mumbai, shared his experience of how police’s special squads in plain clothes were deputed to nab offenders, at spots with high cases of eve-teasing in Nashik, where he served as commissioner.