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Crimes Against Women
The Centre is planning to double the duration for which domestic violence survivors can seek temporary shelter at One-Stop Centres from five to 10 days, Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday night, Devi said under special circumstances the survivors can stay in such centres for up to 15 days. One Stop Centres (OSC) are intended to support women affected by violence, in private and public spaces, within the family, community and at the workplace. According to the present legislation, women affected by violence along with their children (girls of all ages and boys up to 8 years of age) can avail themselves of a temporary shelter at the OSC for a maximum period of 5 days. Devi said the Women and Child Development Ministry is planning to increase the number of days for which domestic violence survivors can seek temporary shelter at one stop centres from five to 10 days and the government is finalising .
While the last judicial execution in West Bengal for the rape and murder of a minor in Kolkata took place over two decades ago, courts across the state have awarded death penalties to six convicts in the last six months for perpetrating sexual assaults on girls. Another convict was also awarded capital punishment for murdering his family members, taking the total number of death penalties in the state in the last half-year to seven. In six of the seven cases, death by hanging sentences were given for the savage nature of rapes and murders perpetrated on girls, qualifying them under the 'rarest of the rare' category, where convicts were booked under the POCSO Act, besides sections of the IPC and, later, of the BNS. The list excludes the sentence for the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder convict Sanjoy Roy who was spared the capital punishment by a Kolkata court, after the gruesome death of the on-duty trainee medic on August 9 last year, and was sentenced to life imprisonment till ...
The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that the plea of Swamy Shraddananda, jailed for over 30 years for the murder of his wife, has virtually sought a direction to the President to decide his mercy petition. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih was hearing a petition filed by 84-year-old Shraddananda alias Murali Manohar Mishra seeking a direction to the authorities to decide his mercy plea filed before the President in December, 2023. Additional solicitor general K M Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, sought to get instructions on the plea and said, "However, the prayer is virtually seeking a direction to the President to do it. Whether such a prayer could be considered at all? Kindly see the prayer." Advocate Varun Thakur, appearing for Shraddananda, said the petitioner was in jail for over 30 years and was suffering from ailments. "You (Shraddananda) must thank this court that you were saved that time," the bench said and posted the hearing after tw
Lambasting the West Bengal government for its alleged failure to implement crucial safety measures for women and girls, Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi has said the state has not taken any step to start the remaining 11 fast track special courts in spite of a pendency of 48,600 rape and POCSO cases. In a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Devi criticized the West Bengal government for failing to implement key emergency helplines such as the Women Helpline (WHL), Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) and Child Helpline. Asserting these services are essential for providing immediate assistance to victims of violence, she said the state has yet not integrated them despite multiple reminders from the Central government. This lapse, Devi argued, deprives the women and children in West Bengal of critical support in times of distress. In a pointed rebuke, she highlighted the state's inability to operationalize the Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) allocated t
Several city hospitals, including the AIIMS and Safdarjung, continued their strike on Wednesday in protest against the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata. The Resident Doctors' Associations of AIIMS, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia, and Indira Gandhi Hospital continued the strike for a third day on the trot, shutting down OPDs, OTs, and wards. The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), after a meeting with Resident Doctor Associations (RDAs) from across states and Institutes of National Importance, in a statement said it will stand with its peers nationwide in denouncing the murder and continue its strike. The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA), however, called off its strike after a meeting with Union Health Minister J P Nadda at his residence on Tuesday night. The association said the decision to end the strike was taken in the interest of the welfare of patients. FORDA said, "A key outcome of the meeting was the
The National Commission for Women (NCW) registered 28,811 complaints of crime against women last year and about 55 per cent were from Uttar Pradesh. The highest number of complaints were received in the right to dignity category that involves harassment other than domestic violence and it stood at 8,540, according to NCW data. This was followed by 6,274 complaints of domestic violence. Dowry harassment complaints stood at 4,797, molestation complaints at 2,349, police apathy against women complaints at 1,618, and rape and attempt to rape complaints at 1,537, the data showed. There were 805 complaints of sexual harassment, 605 of cyber crime, 472 of stalking and 409 of honour crimes, it stated. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of complaints at 16,109 followed by Delhi 2,411, Maharashtra at 1,343, according to the data. Bihar recorded 1,312 complaints, Madhya Pradesh 1,165, Haryana 1,115, Rajasthan 1,011, Tamil Nadu 608, West Bengal 569 and Karnataka 501. The number of ...