Fast Track Courts To Deal With Pending Cases Of Crime Against Women

The Centre recently announced that it will set up fast track courts to clear the 1.6 lakhs pending cases of crime against women and children. These fast track courts will be set up across 31 states and the cases will have to be solved within a span of two years. Home Minister G Krishan Reddy also said that 12,609 cases were registered this year under POSCO, and hence announced the setting up of fast track courts in a meeting in Rajya Sabha.

The highest number of rapes has been reported from Madhya Pradesh (4,882), followed by Uttar Pradesh (4,816) and Maharashtra (4,189) in 2016

More Number Of Criminal Cases Are Reported After The Setting Up Of Online Portal

Of the registered cases under POSCO, 2397 are under investigation, while for the others, the charge sheet has been filed. “The centre is going to set up fast track courts and a proposal in this regard will be placed before the cabinet in the coming days.” the minister said in Rajya Sabha. He also added that before the Nirbhaya case, the criminal cases were not reported but after the introduction of the online portal, more cases are reported which helps in providing relief to the distressed. Talking about the NCRB crime report, he said, “No doubt that the number of criminal cases is rising. But the fact to be followed is that the reporting of cases has gone up and it is very important to deal with these crimes.”

Following the fact that less number of criminal cases were reported in the police station, the government had made it mandatory for the police to register the complaint within four months, especially in the cases pertaining to the women and children. He also expressed concern about cybercrimes. He said, “This is a serious issue. Our government is taking steps to set up a cybercrime portal which will help in reducing, and hopefully, eliminating the crime from the cyber world. The cybercrime will pose a problem in future. There should be discussed in the house on this issue. We should bring this in syllabus and curriculum.”

Reported Cases Of Crime Against Women Increased By 83%

According to NCRB, reported cases of crime against women increased by 83% from 185,312 in 2007 to 338,954 in 2016, when the last annual NCRB report was released. As many as 2.5 million crimes against women have been reported in India over the last decade. Rape accounts for about 12% of all crimes against women. In 2016, 106 cases of rapes were reported every day and the same year it saw the lowest conviction rate of 18.9% in the last decade of crime against women. The highest number of rapes has been reported from Madhya Pradesh (4,882), followed by Uttar Pradesh (4,816) and Maharashtra (4,189) in 2016.

Read More: Supreme Court Files Suo Moto PIL Against Rising Cases Of Child Rape