Separate police unit to probe crimes against women proposed by Home Ministry

Despite government’s claims of numerous efforts, women in the country continue to face harassment at an alarming rate. After the recent Uber Rape case and the Japanese tourist rape case; the country’s tourism too seems to have taken a major blow. At a point where half the population of India feels terrorized and the economy shaken; the Home Ministry has suggested the formation of a separate body to deal with Crimes against women.

The government has suggested setting up of 150 special police teams across the country to look into crimes against women. A government statement revealed that Home Minister Rajnath Singh has written to the chief ministers of all the states asking them to examine the IUCAW proposal. The Investigative Units on Crimes Against Women (IUCAW), will be deployed in each state to deal with such issues more effectively.

According to a report by Live Mint, the statement said: “The objective of these units will be to investigate cases referred to them (and) augment the investigative machinery of the states in relation to the heinous crimes against women, especially rape, dowry deaths, acid attacks and human trafficking.”The statement also revealed that the annual cost of the project will be Rs84 crore ($13.25 million) with 2,250 officers for the 150 units.

According to a report by Reuters, figures provided by the National Crime Records Bureau reveal that reports of crimes against women in India increased by 26.7 percent to 309,546 in 2013 compared to the previous year. These crimes include rape, kidnapping, sexual harassment, trafficking, molestation and ill-treatment by husbands and relatives and suicides because of dowry.

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