HYDERABAD: Did the encounter of the four accused in Disha rape and murder case take away the public attention from issue of women’s safety? Policy makers and experts in the city say that with the ‘encounter’, the actual issue of strengthening and creating new policies to safeguard women has been sidelined.
Ever since the rape came to light on November 28, the only new policy changes that have been enforced is that of Zero FIR, which allows the police to lodge complaint irrespective of the jurisdiction, and then forward the investigation under the correct police limits later.
Apart from this, the State has not brought in any other policy level changes, apart from a massive drive to sensitize citizens of Dial 100. Both Zero FIR and Dial 100 are pre-existing mechanisms and not something the State is specifically doing to address the issue.
According to activists, there needs to be a more meaningful policy intervention on levels of administration, policing and judiciary to prevent such crimes.
“Rape has no silver bullet to solve the issue. It is a complex problem and requires more than just one day to resolve it. Our administrators need to realise this first,” said Tara Krishnamurthy, a gender right activist. She further stated that the issue in Hyderabad was clearly a mistake on the end of policing, which has broken the image of the police.
“The victim may have been alive, had the police not made the first lapse during the time of filing an FIR. This has made the image of police unfriendly and hostile and will lead to more crimes going unreported. The police must actively work to rebuild its image,” she said. “People wanting instant justice is a critique of the judiciary and criminal justice system. There must be an administrative change in the way the judiciary runs by fulfilling all vacant posts of staff, judges, public prosecutors to ensure there is no delay. We need proper infrastructure to deal with women who face violence,” said Vasudha Nagraj, a lawyer.
Officer starts probe into ‘encounter’
Hyderabad: J Surender Reddy, Additional DCP- Special Operations Team of Rachakonda on Sunday visited the ‘encounter’ site at Chatanpally. He has been appointed as the investigating officer to probe into the case registered at Shadnagar police station, as per the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission. Reddy along with a team of officials conducted an inquiry at the spot, examined the location in the fields where the accused were found dead and the path leading to the spot from the road. They conducted a primary panchnama at the scene. Police earlier said that the accused were brought to the spot for locating the victim’s belongings, but they gave cops misleading information. Once the belongings were recovered, the accused started attacking the police, following which an exchange of fire ensued, leaving all four dead. Reddy’s team recorded the details of the sequence of the events. A detailed report will be prepared and submitted to the government
NGO files complaint against the police
Hyderabad: An NGO from Mahabubnagar lodged a complaint at Uppal police station against Cyberabad CP VC Sajjanar and other police officials, alleging that they had killed the four accused in a fake encounter. Diddi Praveen Kumar from Nenu Saitham demanded that a murder case be registered against the police officials
As per HC, bodies to be kept at medical college
Mahbubnagar: After the NHRC team visited the Government hospital, the bodies of the four, were shifted to Mahabubnagar Medical College on Saturday night. The bodies will be kept here as per the directions of the High Court. Meanwhile, sources said it will take another three days for forensic experts to prepare post-mortem report
Liquor and porn leading to more rapes, says Haragopal
Mahbubnagar: Social activist, professor G Haragopal on Sunday said that the increase in the sale of liquor and porn websites was directly contributing to the increase of rapes and murders of women in the State and the country. Addressing media at Jadcherla in Mahbubnagar district, he said that the problem cannot be solved by taking action just at the superficial level, but, instead it should be weeded out from its root cause. He said that law of the land was meant for all people in the society, irrespective of their gender, religion, colour or cast
NHRC seeks report from different depts
Hyderabad: The team from National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) probing the death in an ‘encounter’ has sought a detailed report from the police department, forensic, revenue and other departments in connection with the ‘exchange of fire’ and how they died. In this connection, the team is also likely to question the police officials of Cyberabad and those who were involved in the operation. The team may also visit the two injured policemen undergoing treatment at Care Hospital, Gachibowli. The team which had already interacted with the team of forensic doctors who conducted postmortem on the bodies of the accused, have asked them to submit a detailed report. The revenue officials were asked to report on the location and aspects related to the land