Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
Following an incident of the rape of an eight-month-old in Delhi in January this year, the Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal launched a satyagraha with a charter of demands including death penalty for child rapists.
Maliwal spoke with The Quint on her ‘Rape Roko’ campaign and procedural lapses that lets down a rape survivor. Speaking about the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act which has stringent provisions of life imprisonment, Maliwal said:
India has witnessed an 82 percent increase in the incidents of child rape from 2015 to 2016. According to the data compiled by the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) while 10,854 cases of child rapes were reported in 2015, the number had increased to 19,765 in 2016. While the Madhya Pradesh government passed a Bill last year awarding capital punishment to those who rape girls below the age of 12 years, three other states – Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka – are mulling over similar laws. The question is whether death penalty acts as a deterrent?
Activists fear that such laws will aggravate the problem of under-reporting and could endanger the lives of victims as well. DCW Chief Maliwal, however, doesn’t agree with such arguments.
In midst of the clamour for death penalty are we ignoring the need to strengthen the criminal justice system that will, in fact, go a long way in boosting the morale of rape survivors? For instance, a recent news report suggests that Delhi has only 14 fast track courts when the capital needs 63 such courts. DCW Chairperson concurs with the notion that delivering justice and that too timely is a crucial aspect of ensuring women safety.
When violent public protests had erupted in Delhi in December 2012 after the brutal gangrape of Nirbhaya, former chief minister and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit had tried to pin the blame on the Delhi Police which was under the Centre’s control. Instead of pacifying angry protesters, the political move of passing the buck backfired and cost the Dikshit-led government dearly in the state assembly elections later.
Bringing the Delhi Police under the state government’s control has been a long stated demand of the Aam Aadmi Party, can the Delhi Commission for Women bridge the gap between the Centre and Delhi government on this issue?
(The Quint, in association with BitGiving, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for an 8-month-old who was raped in Delhi on 28 January 2018. The baby girl, who we will refer to as 'Chhutki', was allegedly raped by her 28-year-old cousin when her parents were away. She has been discharged from AIIMS hospital after undergoing three surgeries, but needs more medical treatment in order to heal completely. Her parents hail from a low-income group and have stopped going to work so that they can take care of the baby. You can help cover Chhutki's medical expenses and secure her future. Every little bit counts. Click here to donate.)
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