The Ministry of Home Affairs has called a meeting of chief secretaries and director generals of police (DGPs) to try and find ways to stop violent crimes against women in the country.
This follows outrage over the gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student, who was assaulted by six men in moving bus in Delhi on December 16. “Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has called a meeting of all chief secretaries and DGPs to discuss ways to stop crimes against women. The government is committed to taking all possible steps to stop such incidents,” said R P N Singh, minister of state for home affairs.
According to data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2011, 549 cases of rape were registered in Delhi; the majority of the victims were aged between 14 and 30 years. In the same year, 23,400 cases of rape were registered across the country. Madhya Pradesh registered 3,398 cases, West Bengal 2,356 cases, Uttar Pradesh 2,040 cases, Rajasthan 1,757 cases and Maharashtra 1,702 cases.
Five accused formally charged
Five men were formally charged in court on Thursday with the gang rape and murder of an Indian physiotherapy student, a case that has generated widespread anger about the government's inability to prevent violence against women.
The December 16 attack on the 23-year-old physiotherapy student and a male companion provoked furious protests close to the seat of government in New Delhi and has fuelled a nationwide debate about the prevalence of sexual crimes in India, where a rape is reported on average every 20 minutes. The five men are accused of assaulting the 23-year-old on a bus in New Delhi, leaving her with such severe injuries that she died two weeks later, in hospital in Singapore, where she was taken for treatment.
A sixth accused is under 18 and is due to be tried separately in a juvenile court.
Senior home ministry officials said the Centre was keen to amend the law on crime against women. For this, it had formed various committees, which would provide reports within a month so that action could be taken at the earliest. They added major changes in the law were expected in the Budget session of Parliament. A three-member committee set up to recommend changes in the law on crime against women, headed by former chief justice J S Verma, has already received about 6,000 recommendations from individuals and non-government organisations.
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Shinde had also written to various political parties to recommend ways to amend the law. The meeting of chief secretaries and DGPs would also seek to find the views of state governments, so that the recommendations could be incorporated while amending the law.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has filed a 33-page charge sheet on the gang rape of the 23-year-old student. The charge sheet names 40 witnesses and five of the six accused. Police officials are conducting a bone test to ascertain the age of the sixth accused, thought to be aged 17.