Suggestions - Safety and Security for women in India

Dear Mr. Verma,

“I fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed”, Shelley

It is very difficult to not be emotional about what happened with “Amanat” and feel ashamed as a citizen that this happened in our country. Having said that, I for one, would also like to pat the government and police force for having shown some positive reaction to the situation. From catching all the culprits to providing Amanat with the best possible treatment, there has been some work that the government has done.

However, this issue needs action from every single member in our society – politicians, police force, justice system, education system, society, family and every single citizen of our country. Whilst I understand that your scope of coverage is only around the legal system, I do not believe this issue is only about the legal system. We would need to assess the same across multiple fronts and come up with both short-term and long-term solutions.

“As a society, we need to look within ourselves and around… the problem is all around us.”

I would like to present my ideas under the following headings:\

1.Legal system overhaul

2.Systemic solutions

3.Cultural solutions

4.Parliament and our representatives

Legal system overhaul

Whilst I agree that the beauty of our country is its democracy and do not necessarily agree with practices in other countries of spanking them in the open or public execution, I fail to understand why our politicians and law makers do not understand a simple fact that “Hastening justice in such crimes is the best tonic to cure this heinous crime and also act as a strong deterrent.”

This has to be the most important reform measure and that starts with resourcing our judicial system accordingly. I heard Mr.Ram Jethmalani on Times NOW the other day comment that we are seriously short of judges. To me, any solution can only work if we get this issue sorted out first.

As a follow up measure, we should introduce fast track courts in India for female related issues – rape, dowry, harassment, female infanticide, etc. These courts should be established across India within a time-based manner. If this involves re-directing a portion of our 2013 budget, then we need to do it. What better time to think of it than in January, with our budgets round the corner. Similar to Aadhar scheme, we should have an eminent figure manage the implementation process and report back regularly. If we do not have a time and budget attached to these schemes, they would remain schemes implemented well in some states and non-existent in others.

While I am not a lawyer, I support some of the view presented by various experts at multiple forums. They include:

• Execution (Hanging) of rape convicts – As I debated earlier in my note, if we do not send a strong and quick message to convicts and potential convicts, this cancer cannot be cured. I am surprised by the Government’s view that it should be administered only in the “rarest of rare” cases. How can we define rare? Apologies for sounding raw, but is raping one person any lesser a crime than a gang-rape? All rape convicts should meet similar ends and their rightful place is under a black mask and a meter of rope

• Whilst I believe we should treat this crime as one among the “gravest of grave” there is and hence provide for no solace to those who are accused of these crimes, I do not support the idea of including the same under a non-bailable offence. This does expose the crime from being supressed through “illegal means” and while I would like that not to happen, I would not like to support something wherein an innocent person who has committed no crime is forced to sit behind bars. “We need decisive action, but convicting or de-stabilising even one wrong person is worse than convicting ten right ones.” Let’s remember that for every 10 “Amanat’s”, there is an “Aitraz Hindi movie” type of incident and we shouldn’t let this rule to be mis-used

• We need to treat rape as a double offence. It is an act against the modesty of a woman and is also a murder/attempt to murder. We should re-visit maximum penalty in India and this should be more than 14 years. Why can’t we look at a US style system whereby the convictions are calculated on a cumulative basis? This way they would essentially be in jail for the rest of their life, if not hanged since it does not fall within the “hanging” category. This needs to be re-looked at in-depth, particularly in light of a recent case reported in the press wherein a convict just out of jail, threw acid on a victim

• We need a detailed review of all sexual offences ranging from demeaning the modesty of a woman to eve teasing and from attempt to rape and rape including murder. There needs to be clear bracketed jail period associated with each crime. As pointed out earlier, these should be cumulative as well

• Finally, we need to clear all those convictions that have been completed, but hanging has not yet taken place. This is a time to show seriousness and involvement. Nothing can be better than executing all those who have been given a “hanging” judgement by the government. Why are we carrying a waiting list even for this? The Honorable President of our country needs to send quick responses on all mercy petitions and set a precedent for the nation to follow. Home Ministry should speeden up and fill vacancies immediately. It is appalling that we can’t find hangmen in a country of a billion. It is just downright escapism and nothing more

Systemic solutions

• Drinking and rape – Almost every rape convict is found to be under the influence of alcohol. We need to deal with alcohol abuse more emphatically. Alcohol abuse has damaged many a families and is a root cause of many of our societal issues. How many breathalysers do we have across police stations in India? How many tests are conducted every day? How many are convicted? This is a simple but highly effective medium to control this menace, if follow up action is implemented in the right earnest without any external influences. We need to undertake a separate study on this subject and I urge the Government through you to constitute a committee similar to the Justice Verma committee on this subject

• At the core of my note, is my recommendation to propose the establishment of a “Women Protection Force” under the Prime Minister of the country. This committee should have two layers – An Advisory board on the mode of a Joint Parliamentary Panel’s power and stature and include the Prime Minister, members from the public, opposition, state governments and eminent retired legal experts/law enforcers. Below that we should have a working taskforce consisting of public and Sr. law enforcers from across state governments, chief secretaries and secretaries. When a case is logged in with regards to woman harassment at any police station across India or a call is made to women helplines, this working taskforce would be updated on the case and what is being done to handle the same, including catching the convicts, monitoring those who are accused and reviewing supporting being provided to families and rape victims with respect to their rehabilitation. The Advisory body would review the same every quarter and given an update to the Parliament and the nation every single parliament session. We need this topic to be top of the mind and be followed up at the highest level. This level of monitoring will also ensure there is minimal involvement and undue influence from local politicians and bigwigs

• We need to establish rape rehabilitation centres for rape victims and their families, similar to what we have in other countries across the world. This centre needs to proactively support the affected

• Whilst I support the idea of setting up a publicly available database of sex offenders. This mere say is not enough. We need to outcast them and ensure they do not get government jobs, etc.

Cultural solutions

Unfortunately, I have heard too much of politician bashing during the last few days on TV studios and outside. They have a massive role to play. But, we must remember that the cancer lies within and we can’t pass the buck to anyone. As a society, we have done very little to treat women as equals and not commoditise them. I was brought up by three women (my mother and two sisters) after my father’s death. Hence, I can relate to their minor day-to-day issues quite well. Women are braver and stronger. They can rule a country, manage a house and raise a child and are no different from a male member.

Here are some suggestions I would like to make:

• Re-visit sex education in India – We need to strengthen it and this should not deal with only sex, pregnancy, etc. We need to tighten the same and ensure boys and girls understand differences, importance of respect, etc

• Introduce self-defence courses in schools – All girl children should undergo self-defence courses in schools to handle unforeseen circumstances

• Foul language involving family/eve teasing – It’s a common habit among some college goers to involve female members of family in the worst of slangs and this is used so freely. How are we going to deal with this? Respect starts young and we need to nip this from the bud. We could look at something as simple as making Personality/Moral values a key subject in school. Teachers need to regularly report on the same and ensure sufficient rehab is put in place. I am not one for curtailing freedom, but we need to track the kids and their behaviours early. Any case of eve teasing should be dealt with very seriously. The days of “Conduct Certificates” saying he/she is well mannered should end. We need more involvement from teachers, parents and society at large in bringing up better citizens

Parliament and election reforms

• Our law makers have a massive role in defining the environment we operate in. Despite this, we have seen very little debates on sex offence in the parliament. Women reservation bill and Sexual harassment act has been pending for too long now and it’s critical for the same to be deliberated. We have had too much of walking outs and adjournments. We want our lawmakers to ACT NOW. For a start, I am appalled that the special parliament session was not organised despite such a clear public uprising. Ultimately, the law makers represent us

• Whilst I agree that until a conviction is made, we can’t stop people from competing, it would be ideal if political parties refrain from giving party tickets or membership to anybody who has a sexual offence or other serious charges against him. Hopefully with the fast track courts, we should see the offenders being convicted faster than ever before.

Thank you for this opportunity. We want you to know that you are doing a great service to the nation and we are with you.

I am happy to elaborate on any of the points listed above and to also participate in any discussions on the subject in my personal capacity.

Regards,

Rohit.C.Nambiar