THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the Governor announced the government’s vaulting ambition to set up a sexual offenders registry in the state, experts feel it’s easier said than done.
A sex offenders’ registry is a system designed to allow government authorities to keep track of activities of sex offenders, including those who have served jail term.
The move by the government comes in the wake of the recent assault on an actor in Kochi, causing public outrage on the safety and security of women in the state.
Experts said the move could be viewed by some quarters as a ‘blatant violation of human rights’. “This could also invite criticism as the details, including the photo of the convicts, will be made available in the public domain,”said James Vadakkancherry, criminologist. This could undermine the ‘dignity’ of that individual as no one in the world would be a criminal forever, he said.
“The rights of a convict cannot be protected if his photos are published at railway stations or bus stations. This will sabotage the reformative aspect of punishment,” the criminologist said.