Death sentence of rapists of girls below 12, says CM
What's the story
After Madhya Pradesh, Haryana is now considering implementing the death sentence for sexual abusers of minors younger than 12 years. The state government would also urge setting up of fast-track courts to ensure speedy disposal of such cases. The law and order situation in Haryana has rung alarm bells as nine rapes were reported in just the last week.
Details
Khattar urges media to verify facts before reporting
Elaborating on his stand, CM Manohar Lal Khattar said in 75% of cases reported, known people were found to be involved. It's the responsibility of the society too to help tackle such crimes, he said, asserting "not one person can claim non-registration of FIRs" by police. He also exhorted media to verify facts before publishing: 25% complaints registered last year were fake, he said.
Cases
Nine incidents of rape reported in a week
The last week has been horrific with nine reports of rapes. Two Dalit girls were allegedly raped and killed in Safidon and Panipat, another was gang-raped at knife-point in Mankawas, and two women were gang-raped in moving cars in Farrukhnagar and Faridabad. In Fatehabad, a married 20-year-old was gang-raped. A 14-year-old in Hisar and a 50-year-old in Pinjore were arrested for raping minors.
Punishment
Prevalence of death penalty in India
In India, the death penalty is prescribed for convicted terrorists under some anti-terror laws, murder, robbery with murder, abetting suicide of a child or unstable person, and abetting mutiny by an armed forces member. The SC has advocated the death penalty in cases involving child victims, political assassinations, dowry deaths and more. However, courts award death only in the "rarest of rare" cases.
Impact
Will death penalty help control sexual crimes?
Despite Khattar's claims, under-reporting of sexual crimes seems to be a prevalent issue in Haryana: according to NCRB data, Kerala, with 34mn people, recorded 2.6L IPC offences in 2016, while Haryana, with 25mn people, had just 88,000 crimes. Conviction and chargesheeting rates for crimes against women were at dismal lows of 13.4% and 56.1% Change in mindsets is essential to improve the situation.