the whole article.'Many rapes are fallout of jilted affairs'
NEW DELHI: The nation is enraged at low conviction rate in rape
cases and even home minister Sushilkumar Shinde has expressed his
concern over this, but states plead helplessness. They say the problem
is not because of poor investigations, but since most such cases are
fallout of jilted affairs or involve a family member or kin leading to out-of-court settlements.
India has a conviction rate of barely around 26% in rape cases; whereas the same figure for murder stands
at over 38%. Shinde on Friday expressed concern over the low rate of
conviction in cases of crime against women, saying there was a need for
introspection by investigators, prosecution and all others concerned.
During the conference of director generals
of police (DGPs) on crime against women held here on Friday, almost all
the states presented a figure of over 50% of rape cases falling flat
because the victim and the accused have reached a settlement and decided
to end the matter. Most of these cases — the officers said in the
conference — involved love affairs gone sour, a promise of marriage not
kept after having sex or involved a close relative, family member or
neighbour.
The DGPs also had a grouse with the judiciary, who they alleged delay and deny justice to a large number of rape victims. DGPs requested the Centre to come up with certain measures that would lead to less number of adjournments during rape case trial.
A particular case from Maharashtra, that of rape and murder of a
nine-year-old, was raised, where the judge had given 12 adjournments
while merely examining the DNA evidence.
Sources said the
explanation for low conviction rate from states came up during a
discussion specifically on this issue during the conference. While most
cases never get reported, of those that are registered — state DGPs said
— most fall through because the victim either retracts her statement or
stops cooperating with the prosecution after a while. "Around to 52% of
cases in our state have been found to be a result of a failed love
affair, a marriage promise not kept after having sex or a family member
being involved. Most states had the almost the same figure to share on
this," said a DGP who attended the conference.
Another officer,
who took part in the conference, concurred, "This issue was discussed
and it was argued that in a large number of cases such connections
between the victim and accused lead to an out-of-court settlement. The
settlement they may reach also reflects in poor conviction rates."
The issue of having dedicated women police stations to register cases
of crime against women was also raised, but was opposed by several
states saying that this would make things difficult for the victim as no
matter where she lived she would have to travel all the way to the
dedicated police station.
Shinde said over 2.38 lakh cases were
registered for crime against women in 2009, chargesheets were filed in
about 1.64 lakh cases and there were only 27,977 convictions. More than
2.13 lakh cases were registered in 2010, leading to nearly 1.72 lakh
chargesheets and 30,270 convictions. In 2011, over 2.28 lakh cases were
registered, 1.78 lakh chargesheets were filed and only 30,266
convictions secured.
"Why is conviction so low? Time has come to introspect. We have to find out what are the faults," Shinde told reporters later.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Many-rapes-are-fallout-of-jilted-affairs/articleshow/17895064.cms
comment:
p_commentcount