Didi’s half truth: In Bengal, criminals against women are most successful in escaping the clutches of law

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government, which is surrounded from all sides in the Kolkata doctor case, presented the Aparajita Bill on women’s safety in the Assembly on Tuesday. Through this bill, provision has been made to give death penalty to the culprits of rape. This bill is being called the ‘Aparajita Women and Child Bill’. Under this bill, there is a provision of death penalty for the culprits in case of death of the rape victim. Through this new law, it has been said to ensure justice in 21 days. If the decision is not given in 21 days, then 15 more days will be given with the permission of the Superintendent of Police. This is in the concurrent list and every state has the right to amend it. She claimed that the rate of crime against women is abnormally high in states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, whereas in West Bengal, harassed women are getting justice in the court. Let us understand whether Mamata Banerjee is speaking the whole truth. How much truth is there in her claim.

The conviction rate of women criminals in the country is quite low

However, according to the data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), cases of crime against women are the most pending across the country. At the same time, the conviction rate in such cases is also very low. Apart from this, the rate of conviction of the culprit in crimes against women is also very low. According to the NCRB report, the conviction rate in cases of crime against women in India was a meager 26.5 percent in 2021, which was 29.8 percent in 2020. The pendency rate of cases was a shocking 95 percent. This means that the courts were able to settle only 5 percent of the cases.

Anti-rape bill ‘Aparajita’ passed in West Bengal Assembly, know its provisions in 5 points

In Bengal, punishment for criminals against women is very less

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the conviction rate in seven states of the country is less than 10 percent. West Bengal has the worst performance in this matter, where the conviction rate of criminals against women is just 2.5 percent. Assam, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are better than Bengal.

There are 21 lakh cases of crime against women in the country, but only 23 thousand get punishment

According to the NCRB report, a total of 21,21,755 cases of crime against women were registered in 2021, out of which the culprits were convicted in 23,243 cases, while 60,290 were acquitted. The highest number of cases came from West Bengal (3,37,924) and the lowest number of cases came from Ladakh (41).

4 lakh arrested, only 33 thousand found guilty

According to the NCRB report, in 2021, 4,28,806 people were arrested for committing crimes against women. At the same time, charge sheets were filed against 5,55,089. At the same time, 33,725 were convicted and 1,07,324 were acquitted.

Rape cases are not registered due to social stigma and fear of retaliation

Talking about rape cases, 30,016 cases of rape were registered in 2021, most of which were from Rajasthan (6,337). It was followed by Madhya Pradesh (2,947), Uttar Pradesh (2,845) and Maharashtra (2,496). These numbers are said to be much lower than the actual estimates. Based on the National Family Health Survey (2015-16), more than 99 percent of rape cases in India are not reported. Social stigma and fear of retaliation are the main factors that hinder the victim from coming forward.

The law changed after Nirbhaya, but rape cases kept increasing

After the Nirbhaya gang rape in December 2012, there were changes in the laws related to rape. The definition of rape also changed. Now sexual acts with any part of the body will be considered rape. Apart from this, provisions for strict punishment have also been made after 2013 for crimes like staring, displaying obscenity and acid attack. According to the report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), crimes against women are increasing day by day in the country. A total of 4,45, 256 cases of crime against women were registered in 2022, which is 4 percent more than in 2021. That is, every hour 51 women were subjected to crime.

In 5 years of UPA, only 28 cases of rape were punished, conviction rate is still 28%

According to government data, during the Congress-led UPA government from 2009 to 2014, only 24 to 28 percent of rape cases resulted in conviction. However, there was no reduction in rape cases even during the tenure of the NDA government that came later. Even today, the conviction rate in rape cases is only about 28 percent. The situation is the same in cases of crimes against women.

It is not possible to complete the trial in 10 or 15 days in a rape case

Supreme Court advocate Shivaji Shukla says that after the charge is framed, the trial begins when the accused refuses to accept it. After this, all the witnesses in the case are called one by one. Suppose a witness falls ill, he/she will be called again in the next hearing. If the number of witnesses is not more than 4-5, then the trial can be completed in 30 days by hearing the case daily. But, completing the trial in 15 days is not possible at any cost. In the Kolkata case also, it may take a lot of time to call the doctors, hospital staff and all the witnesses related to this case to the court and take their testimony. Anyway, CBI investigation, SIT investigation is going on in this case, so it may take a lot of time.