The State government will bring in amendments to the Goonda Act before the end of the ongoing legislature session to book rapists under it, Home Minister K.J. George announced in the Legislative Council on Tuesday.
Replying to a debate in the Assembly on Monday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the government was keen on instilling fear among rapists by amending the Act.
The Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum-Grabbers Act, 1985, (popularly known as Goonda Act) does not currently cover sexual offenders.
A person booked under the Act can be detained without trial for one year, subject to the endorsement of the advisory committee comprising three High Court judges. The accused cannot apply for bail during this period.
In 2012The accused in the gang-rape of a law student on Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus were booked under the Goonda Act in 2012. However, that was before the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, after which laws dealing with sexual offences were strengthened.
A senior police official said that though the laws dealing with crimes against women were strengthened, there were chances of the accused being released on bail after a couple of months. To prevent this, the Bangalore police were considering booking the accused in the Pulakeshinagar and Varthur rape cases under the Act.
