Manjula Manasa, chairperson of the Karnataka State Women’s Commission (KSWC), said on Friday that the commission is against legalising prostitution in State.
Participating in an interactive session with the media on ‘KSWC for exploited women’, organised by the State and Regional Press Reporters’ Forum (SRPRF) in the auditorium of the Department of Information and Public Relations, Ms. Manasa said the KSWC would send a report against legalising prostitution to the State government shortly. It would not curb atrocities against women, she said.
Ms. Manasa said many people were getting a divorce through ex-parte proceedings by submitting fake documents. “The commission will request the judiciary to look into this matter,” she said.
On the low conviction rate in rape and molestation cases, Ms. Manasa said she would request Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra to set up fast-track courts exclusively to try sexual assault cases.
It was the KSWC that immediately demanded a full-fledged investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department into the attack on IAS officer Rashmi V, and the State government handed over the case to the CID, she said. Ms. Manasa sought more powers, including passing orders/judgments on complaints, and a panel of advocates to the KSWC to probe incidents of atrocities against women reported from across the State.
The KSWC chief urged the District Women and Child Welfare Officer H.J. Chandrashekaraiah to initiate stringent measures against scanning centres indulging in revealing the gender of foetus.
