Members of women’s organisations urged the Centre not to pass the ‘Ordinance on criminal law amendments’ on sexual violence against women in the ensuing Lok Sabha Budget session.
They appealed to the UPA Government to include all aspects of Justice Verma Committee’s recommendations in the ordinance to ensure tougher punishment to those who resort to crime against women.
City Police Commissioner N. Madhusudhan Reddy, Mahila Court Sessions Judge V.B. Nirmala Geetamba, AIDWA State secretary K. Swaroopa Rani, Montessori Mahila Kalasala (MMK) director V. Koteswaramma and others participated in the one-day seminar on ‘Grievances of Women – Solutions’ organised at the MMK on Saturday.
Hold consultations
Participating in the seminar All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) state leader Swaroopa Rani opined that the Central Government had ignored the recommendations of Justice Verma, aimed at preventing sexual assaults on women and stringent action against the accused in related cases.
“Government had bypassed the vital recommendations of the Committee and the proposed ordinance on sexual harassment cases will not serve the purpose. We demand the Government to consider all the recommendations of Verma Committee and hold wide consultations, before placing it in Parliament”, said Ms. Swaroopa Rani.
Protect morals
Expressing concern over the degrading values, she urged the girls not to attract towards western culture and take after astronaut Sunitha Williams, Pakistani teenager, Malala Yousafzai, who survived from terrorist attack, educationist Koteswaramma and other women personalities, but not the celebrities.
Mr. Madhusudhan Reddy stressed the need for organising more debates to avoid atrocities on women. He appealed to the women to stick to the complaints for justice. The city police introduced measures to check eve-teasing and ragging and the results are encouraging, he said. Judge Nirmala said the government arranged grievance cells and para-legal volunteers for providing legal aid for women. But due to social stigma and prestige, many victims are not coming forward to complain on sexual assault cases. AIDWA city unit secretary K. Sridevi, Sramila Mahila convenor Kusuma Kumari and students participated.
