8.4 C
London
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsIndia NewsPanel on rape makes 10 key proposals

Panel on rape makes 10 key proposals

Date:

Related stories

Baltimore bridge collapse: Rescuers find two bodies

THE bodies of two construction workers were found near...

Baltimore crash: Minor injury reported among Indian crew

THE owners of the Singapore-flagged cargo ship, Dali, announced...

Sadhguru discharged from hospital after brain surgery

SPIRITUAL leader Sadhguru was discharged from a private hospital...

Trafalgar Square to host Vaisakhi celebrations

Trafalgar Square will host this year’s Vaisakhi celebrations in...

Female Muslim prison service officer speaks about her Ramadan observance

A prison officer named Sobia Parveen, a 31-year-old, talks...

A PANEL set up in response to public outcry over the brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman has delivered its report outlining recommendations on how to tackle gender violence in the largely patriarchal country.

 

The panel, headed by former Chief Justice of India JS Verma, received over 80,000 responses from the public as well as women’s rights groups, academics, gender experts and lawyers, compiling their suggestions into what commentators have described as a “path-breaking” and “progressive” report.

 

Here is a list of the 10 key recommendations put forward by the Verma Committee in its 630-page report:

 

1. Make voyeurism an offence punishable by a maximum jail term of three years. Make stalking an offence punishable by a maximum jail term of three years. Intentional touching, using obscene language or gestures should be treated as a sexual assault offence.

 

2. Rape of a minor should carry a minimum jail term of 10 years. Gang rape should be defined in the Indian Penal Code and be punishable by at least 20 years imprisonment.  Death caused by rape should carry a minimum penalty of 20 years in jail. Make marital rape a criminal offence.

 

3. Due to the number of reports of sexual offences committed by the armed forces in India’s conflict areas such as Kashmir and the North East, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) – a controversial law that gives sweeping powers to and often confers immunity on security forces – must be reviewed. Security forces must be brought under the purview of ordinary criminal law rather than under army law. Special commissioners for women’s security must be deployed in all areas of conflict. Such commissioners will have powers to monitor and take action in all cases of sexual violence against women by armed personnel. Introduce “Breach of command responsibility” – making a senior officer of security forces or police liable to a jail term of at least seven years if his/her subordinate commits rape.

 

4. Put in place measures to monitor illegal village councils known as “Khap Panchayats” that sanction so-called “honour killings” and impose oppressive diktats such as banning girls and women from using mobile phones, wearing western clothes or venturing out unaccompanied.

 

5. Put in place medico-legal guidelines on how to perform a medical examination of a victim of sexual assault. Scrap the so-called “two-finger” test an outdated practice that examines the laxity of the vagina to determine whether the victim is “habituated to sex”.

 

6. Institute a Police Complaints Authority at district level to look into complaints against police officers who do not register complaints of gender crimes. Police who fail to register complaints or abort an investigation should be punished. This will provide more police accountability, said the commission. All police stations should have CCTV to ensure proper procedures are being followed in handling, recording and filing complaints. Provide appropriate technical equipment and training to police to ensure the highest standards of investigation of forensic evidence for sexual assault crimes. Separate police investigating gender crimes from law and order police to ensure speedier investigation, better expertise and improved rapport with the public. Increase the number of female police on patrol and on duty in police stations so that women feel comfortable filing sexual assault complaints.

 

7. Lawmakers who have been charged in a court of law with serious offences such as sexual offences or dowry crimes should be disqualified from contesting elections. Sitting parliamentarians with criminal cases against them, including those of rape and other types of sexual assault, should voluntarily vacate their seats. There should be a code of conduct for political parties, instituting transparency in receiving donations and declaring whether parties had sanctioned people to run for elections who have criminal rec

 

8. The formal curriculum in Indian schools must be drastically revamped and sex education must be made an integral part of the curriculum.

 

9. India should institute a “Bill of Rights” for women, along the lines of similar bills in South Africa and New Zealand. The bill would set out the rights guaranteed to women, which would include the right to life, security, bodily integrity, democratic and civil rights and equality.

 

10. Define the offence of trafficking in the Indian Penal Code. Trafficking should be punishable with a jail term of no less than seven years and may extend to life imprisonment. Employing a trafficked person, for example as a domestic servant, should carry a jail term of no less than three years.

 

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

Latest stories

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

twelve + fourteen =