National Commission wants new laws for women

(January 15, 2009) National Commission for Women says new and stringent laws should be enacted to plug the existing legal inadequacies in checking atrocities against women. Commission chairperson Girija Vyas told reporters at Allahabad on Saturday that present laws are not deterrent enough to fight crimes like molestation and eve teasing. Besides, even in cases of rape, the severity of punishment needs to be much higher, “if the victims are of tender age and the perpetrators belong to law-enforcing agencies." The commission has sent a draft of the bill they propose--Sexual Assaults Bill--to the government, “where stringent punishment” for offences against women are advocated. The commission noted that several rape victims do not complain the crime to police fearing the kind of public trial they may have to face. "There should be just one in-camera recording of statement after which the victim must not be asked to narrate trauma again," "We need to understand that murder kills a person only once. But, a rape victim is often condemned to die every moment of her life, a view expressed even by the apex court," she added. The draft also calls for training of police force in states as they are found to be "casual" about crimes against women. The commission also suggested establishing a mechanism for rehabilitation of rape victims, so that “they are not made to suffer the consequence of a crime that they have not committed," she said.