HYDERABAD: To provide more teeth to the law dealing with those who harass women, the State Government has decided to make the crime a non-bailable offence by amending Section 509 of the IPC.
After a high-level meeting with senior police officials at the State Secretariat in the wake of a courier boy greviously injuring a girl and killing her parents in Rajahmundry, Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy said that atrocities on women were on the rise since those who are booked under Section 509 were coming out of prison by obtaining bail and were committing offences. “To end this, I have asked the officials to prepare a draft bill for making the crime a non-bailable offence,’’ she told reporters.
Later in the day, the Home Minister visited Anusha at Rajahmundry hospital. She announced Rs. 5 lakh financial help to her besides other benefits that had already been announced by the State Government.
The Home Minister, said in Hyderabad, that as Sections 506 and 509 of the IPC which deal with the harassment of women were bailable sections, stalker Rajesh could come out of prison by obtaining bail and commit murder of Anusha’s parents and injure her. Had he not obtained bail, this barabaric crime would not have occurred, she said.
She said she had asked the officials to see if an ordinance had to be issued or issuing a GO would be enough to amend the Section. The draft amendment will be ready within a week, she said. Apart from this the Government was considering opening fast track courts in the districts so that the cases of harassment against women could be disposed of immediately. A request would be sent to the Chief Justice of High Court in this regard, she stated.
Stressing on the need for fast redressal of such complaints, the Home Minister stated that the Superintendents of Police of the districts would be asked to hear these cases once in a month. Counselling centers would be established in the offices of the SPs in the districts, she stated.
Stating that the educational institutions would play key role in such cases, the Home Minister informed that the Higher Education department would be asked to instruct the college managements to keep an eye on the students.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister K Rosaih terming the attack as barbaric, atrocious and beyond human imagination, said the Government would take stringent action on the culprit Matta Rajesh. The culprit had already been arrested and chargesheet would be filed soon, the Chief Minister said and added that the culprit would be awarded stringent punishment so that no one would ever think of committing such heinous crimes in the future.
Rosaiah informed that the Government would help Anusha and her sisters and would take care of their education.