One-stop crisis centres needed to help victims of crime

Observing there is a need for a one-stop crisis centre (OSCC) to provide assistance to victims of crime against women, the Delhi High Court today asked the state legal services authority to convene a meeting of all relevant stakeholders on setting up of such a nodal agency.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva asked the Delhi State Legal Services Authority(DSLSA) to convene within two weeks from today a meeting of representatives from city police, Department of Health Services, Directorate of Prosecution, Delhi Commission for Women and other experts in the field.
Apart from setting up the crisis centres, the other objective of the meeting would also be "to arrive at a document of standard operating procedures" for the OSCC, the court said and hoped some kind of draft document would be ready by the next date of hearing, February 11.

The bench also directed Delhi police to "give a complete up-to-date report of action taken" with respect to using scientific methods of investigation and evidence collection as well as training of its officials, as ordered earlier, after observing that the agency was moving very slow on the issue.
"You are moving very slow. Your training module and capsule are not ready yet. You should take it up much faster," the bench said.
It said there is need for "institutionalising" the investigation procedure and it should not be left to the discretion of the police officers.

"There has to be a checklist.It must be institutionalised and cannot be left to the discretion of the officer concerned. When dealing with victims, there has to be a human element and when investigating there has to be a technological element. This should be done as a matter of routine and not as a matter of choice," the court said.

The court issued the directions after DSLSA said there is need for all the stakeholders to sit together and discuss the issue of setting up crisis centres as well as devising a standard operating procedure for them.
The court was hearing a plea filed by Nandita Dhar through advocate Gaurav Bansal against the incidents of eve-teasing in the capital.