Police Initiatives for Women Related Offences

By Ishita Y. Aggarwal - Centre for Social Research

In a bid to make the cases of ‘violence against women’ and ‘sexual offences’ more transparent and rid them of controversial clauses, certain amendments have been made to the procedural conduct of cases. For dowry or rape related cases the police now bear the onus of communicating, through any possible means, the listing of bail applications in favour of the accused. It had been observed earlier that since the police were not bound to inform the complainant about the issuance of bail by the court, the victims were unable to challenge the bail due to their absence and lack of information. This had been widely interpreted by complainants as collusion between the police and the criminals.

Whenever a bail matter is listed for a rape accused, the lawyer of the Delhi Commission for Women should be immediately informed at the following numbers of Rape Crisis Cell’(RCC) of the Delhi Commission for Women-

RCC Help Line No. : 011-23370557(10 AM to 5 AM)
Mobile No. : 09013707460 (after office hours)
Fax No. : 011-23378325
Email ID : dcw.rcc@gmail.com
Address : Delhi Commission for Women, ‘C’ Block, 2nd Floor,Vikas Bhawan, I.P.Estate, New Delhi.

The representatives of the Delhi Commission for Women have assured that they would send their lawyers to oppose the bail if timely information is given to them. To reaffirm the commitment to treat sexual offences at workplace as a crime, districts and units were advised to set up committees headed by a Women Police Officer, with 50% women members in each district/Unit. A central committee consisting of Chairperson, two members and an NGO, ‘Nav Jayoti Delhi Police Foundation’, situated at, Vikas Bhawan, Sanjay Amar Colony, Jamna Pusta, Delhi-110007 has also been constituted at Police Headquarters to over-see the action taken by the committees.

The Supreme Court of India has held that harassment at work place includes:-

• Physical contact and advances
• A demand or request for sexual favours
• Sexually coloured remark
• Showing pornography, and
• Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non verbal conduct of a sexual nature

Necessary steps have been taken in the direction to ensure the protection of the ‘Right of Privacy’ of the victims of sexual offence. in all cases of sexual assault, particularly cases involving gang-rape or cases where the identity of the accused is not known to the victim is a child, DNA profiling should be conducted mandatorily. The Rohini Court has observed that the PV or finger test is not a required means of investigation to corroborate the charges of guilt. In fact it was stated that the opinion of the Doctors rendered after conducting such a test had no bearing with regard to the guilt or the accused.

It has also been directed that the investigating officers exercise professional attitude while handling cases of sexual offence. At the time of recording of First Information Report, the victim should interact with the Investigation Officer in a peaceful environment to ensure maximum information about the incident and victim herself. After getting initial information, a responsible lady police official should talk to the victim at length to yield purposeful personal information about the victim. This will help prosecution to produce the victim in the Court during trial. During this interaction, expert members of NGOs working in this filed can also be associated so that the victim may feel more comfortable. The interaction between the victim and the Investigation Officer should be an effort to gain maximum details from the victim so as to enable the victim to produce substantial evidence before the court.

DNA Profiling in Sexual Assault Case Mandatory
Instructions with respect to victims of sexual offences/rape etc
Listing of Bail to be Communicated to Complainant
Sexual Harassment at work place
Report to mention if approval of DCP over bail was sought
No PV/Finger Text for Sexual Assault Cases
Opposing bail of Rape accused in Courts by lawyers of the Delhi Commission for Women

Man enough to love a woman then be a man and respect a woman!

Raja Sharma : "An honestly simple yet complicated entertainer trying to figure out the paradox of our times "

Varanasi - New Delhi - Bombay. The three cities which I connect to and have spent almost equal amount of my 27 years of life. And whenever asked by even the marathi speaking dons of bombay(i mean c’mon its bombay not mumbai) i have always said the samething: Banaras mein Dhaam hai, Bumbai mein kaam hai lekin Dilli Meri Jaan hai.....and the words have barely left my tongue in the proudest of baritones my throat can create that i am almost looked down upon for associating myself with so much passion to a city known more for shutting down by 8pm than even the corrupt politicians that have made it their head quarters.

Yes the Capital is not safe!

And yes its because of most us. Lighting a candle in protests is good but thats not really the solution. A march or a protest for a rape victim who has even lost her life to the hooligans that walk the street is a sign of showing your support towards the victim. iss tareekay sey hum bimaar ka ilaaj kar rahein hain, bimaari kaa nahin!

Even Bombay or a Pune at times is not safe. But there is never a sense of fear amongst the ladies in these cities to take a walk past 11 pm.

Everytime a jerk letches at a G.K. 1 M-block market dont ignore him.....dont go fight him(though that would fix all the problems...but gandhiji wouldnt like it J )...i say letch back..make him embarrased. I know its always easier said then done...but i see it here in bombay. No one dares to treat a girl in a market space in such a manner.

Lets not forget even the pujaari's in the temple often suggest ki MAATAA KI pooja karo. For the simple reason that maataa ko manaanaa asaan hai, bajrang bali ko nahin.

So please..if you are man enough to love a woman then be a man and respect a woman! And if I have failed to make my point clear then in pure and simple words : A Safer city is a Sexier City !!

This Blog is part of the Men Say No Blogathon, encouraging men to take up action against the violence faced by women. More entries to the Blogathon can be read at www.mustbol.in/blogathon. Join further conversation on facebook.com/delhiyouth & twitter.com/mustbol. 

Time to speak up , Man.........

By Amitabh Kumar, Head of Media and Communication at Centre for Social Research and one of CSR’s gender trainers

It was 21:43 I had just finished dinner when I got a call from a Scottish friend of mine , usually her voice is full of life , positivity but tonight she sounded threatened , so much fear in her voice. She informed me that she was in an auto rickshaw on the ‘ Nelson Mandela Road ‘ and the driver who had been acting sleazy was slowing down in a dark patch, she was scared to death . I told her to be on the phone with me as I rushed to her. I live in J.N.U so was superbly close , as I raced my car to get to her, there was so much fear in me.

What if something happens to her ?
Should I ask her to call the cops ?
Should I ask friends in vasant kunj to get there ?
What am I supposed to do once I get there ?
Do I go all Rambo on the rickshaw driver and beat him to death ?
What if he is stronger or has a knife or a gun ?

Racing through the nelson mandela marg , almost getting into 2 accidents , I saw her standing in front of the b11 market , she was safe ! She got in the car I dropped her home. Afraid for all my other friends who commute at night , furious at bastards who do not respect women , and ashamed at how little I do to change the scenario I drove back.

I have spoken to many people about it since that night ,almost every one said ‘ well she should have not been taking an auto all alone after it gets dark’. The more I heard this answer the more it troubled me , half of my city lives in constant fear of the other half . And we instead of fighting back instead of saying lets find that auto rickshaw driver , put him in jail , beat him up , ensure he never drives an auto again , say ‘ DO NOT TAKE AN AUTO ALONE WHEN IT GETS DARK !!!!

We defend the guilty and blame the victim. With all honesty I hope I had told her note down the number of the auto , in my fear and first instinct of protection it did not occur to me, similarly I think it does not occur to us that avoiding this problem has lead it to take the epidemic dimensions it has today.

So why do I pen down all these thoughts ??

Because I believe its only by being able to express ourselves we can get to the next step of acting on it. So many times we feel so strongly about things but never express it because its not cool/not what people like to hear / cause we are not sure what we did was right or wrong.

This Blog is part of the Men Say No Blogathon, encouraging men to take up action against the violence faced by women. More entries to the Blogathon can be read at www.mustbol.in/blogathon. Join further conversation on facebook.com/delhiyouth & twitter.com/mustbol.