Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 26: The Centre has lambasted the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a central act and fast track courts to ensure quick justice for rape victims and hit back pointing out that her Trinamool Congress government had neither initiated steps to start most of the fast track courts allocated to the state nor had started the helpline numbers launched for women and child victims.
In a sharp response to Ms Banerjee highlighting quoting official data that an average of 90 rape cases were being reported across the country every day, the Centre has flagged that Bengal has been allocated 123 fast-track courts to hear cases of rapes and child abuse, but many of them are not functional yet.
Under fire after a 31-year-old doctor was raped and murdered in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Ms Banerjee shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, demanding a tough central law to punish rapists. The Trinamool supremo highlighted in her letter that, according to available data, 90 rape cases occur in the country daily. And in many cases, the victims are murdered.
“It is horrifying to see this trend. It shakes the confidence and conscience of society and the nation. It is our bounden duty to put an end to it so that women feel safe and secure. Such a serious and sensitive issue needs to be addressed comprehensively through stringent central legislation that prescribes exemplary punishment for those involved in these dastardly crimes,” she wrote, also proposing establishment of fast-track special courts to tackle such cases. “To ensure quick justice, trials should preferably be completed within 15 days,” she suggested.
Her letter to the Prime Minister was replied by the union minister of state for women and child welfare Annapurna Devi. After expressing her condolence for the murdered 31-year old trainee postgraduate doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the minister turned down Ms Banerjee’s demand for a new central law to punish the rapists and pointed out that the existing acts were strong enough to act as a deterrent for such crimes. She pointed out that Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita implemented last month “comprehensively addresses the issues of crimes against women by providing stringent punishments.” The legislation prescribes severe punishments, including rigorous imprisonment, for offences such as rape, gang rape and sexual abuse against minors.
In the letter dated August 25, the minister emphasized the urgency of implementing stringent legal frameworks and judicial processes to ensure the safety and security of the women and children in West Bengal. The FTSC scheme, launched in October 2019, was designed to expedite the trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
Moving to fast track courts, the minister said a centrally sponsored scheme to set up such courts was launched in October 2019. “As of 30.06.2024, 752 FTSCs including 409 exclusive POCSO Courts are functional in 30 States/UTs which have disposed of more than 2,53,000 cases since the inception of scheme. Under the scheme, the State of West Bengal was allocated a total of 123 FTSCs, which included 20 exclusive POCSO Courts and 103 combined FTSCs dealing with both rape and POCSO Act cases. However, none of these courts had been operationalized till mid-June, 2023,” the minister added.
“The State of West Bengal communicated its willingness to participate in the Scheme vide letter dated 08.06.2023, committing to start 7 FTSCs. Under the revised target, West Bengal has been allocated 17 FTSCs, of which only 6 exclusive POCSO Courts have been operationalized as of 30.06 2024. In spite of a pendency of 48,600 rape and POCSO cases in West Bengal, the State Government has not taken any steps to start the remaining 11 FTSCS. Action in this regard is pending with the state government,” she added.
The Women and Child Development Minister also pointed out that the Trinamool Congress government has not implemented a national helpline set up by the Centre to respond to distress calls from women or children.
“Recognizing the need for Helplines as first responders in the golden hour to a woman or child in distress, Women Helpline (WHL) 181, Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) -112, Child Helpline 1098, Cyber Crime Helpline – 1930 have been put in place in the last few years. The WHL and Child Helplines have been integrated with ERSS also. But, unfortunately the people of the State of West Bengal cannot utilize this facility as the State Government has not implemented the WHL despite many requests and reminders from Gol,” she said.
The central minister said the existing legal framework was stringent enough to tackle the crimes against women. “However, you would agree that effective implementation of these provisions of law as well as various initiatives of the Central Government for women’s safety falls in the ambit of the State Government. It is imperative that the State machinery is fully sensitised and geared up to take fullest advantage of the legal and schematic provisions made by the Central Government for ensuring safety and security of women and girls in the State of West Bengal,” she said.
“I sincerely hope and trust that the Government of West Bengal will strive towards eliminating all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls by creating a safe and secure ecosystem and gender equal society for them to grow and prosper,” the minister added.