Setting up of 65 all-woman police stations in West Bengal and launch of a drive to remove black film from window panes of cars in Madhya Pradesh are among the steps being taken by states to curb rising crimes against women.
Even as a minor girl was allegedly gang raped and later murdered by some unidentified men by slitting her throat in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, the state’s DGP Ambrish Chandra Sharma suggested today that murder after rape cases be made rarest of the rare and sought death penalty for the convicts.
As the national outrage over the Delhi gang rape incident continued, a 17-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped by 10 persons for nine days in Karnataka’s Hassan district. Seven of the assailants have been arrested.
Close on the heels of an 18-year-old girl committing suicide after rape in Punjab, another incident has come to light where a minor girl was allegedly raped by a truck driver in Fatehgarh Sahab district.
“In Bengal there will be 65 all-woman police stations. Of them ten have already been set up,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, addressing a rally in Nagrakat in Jalpaiguri district.
Official sources said the sanctioned strength of each police station was an inspector, eight sub-inspectors, eight assistant sub-inspectors and 30 constables.
The incident in Aligarh occurred last evening in Raja Tau village when the 15-year-old victim had gone outside her house for some work.
The girl, a student of class VIII, was raped and later killed by the miscreants by slitting her throat, police said.
According to the complaint filed by the father of the victim, she was being stalked by three youths since the past several days. A hunt has been launched for the accused while further probe is on.
Favouring capital punishment for murder after rape cases, DGP Sharma told PTI he had written a letter to the UP government asking it to take up the matter with Centre to ensure provisions of death penalty in cases of murder after rape.
In the letter, the DGP also said that those who indulged in eve-teasing or other forms of sexual harassment must be imprisoned immediately and strict action be taken against them.
In the Hassan incident, the girl was allegedly raped at various places in the district by the culprits, who brought her to the town from Magge village in Alur taluk promising her employment, a senior police official said.
Superintendent of Police Amith Singh told PTI over phone that the culprits sexually exploited the girl from December 19 to December 27, and raped her, taking turns.
The gang dumped her on Thursday in Hassan and the exhausted girl reached a woman NGO, which immediately alerted police.
Singh said the police constituted three teams to nab the culprits and seven have been arrested so far.
“We are looking for more suspects. They will also be arrested soon. All the arrested have been subjected to medical examination,” he said.
The arrested, including an autorickshaw driver, would be produced before a local court tomorrow, he said.
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, a Lok Sabha member from Hassan, has demanded exemplary punishment for the culprits.
The Mandi Gobindgarh police in Punjab arrested a truck driver Kaka Singh(30), a resident of village Tooran who allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl, a resident of village Ladpur on Thursday, police said on Friday.
Fatehgarh Sahib SSP Hardial Singh Mann told reporters in Fategarh Sahab that after receiving the complaint, the police immediately arrested the accused.
He said the police has prepared a charge sheet in the case in a day but it could not present it in court today due to a court holiday.
The SSP said police received a complaint yesterday that when the victim was on her way for a langar (community kitchen), the driver forcibly took her in his truck and allegedly raped her.
The medical examination of the girl was conducted at Civil Hospital, Mandi Gobindgarh, police said.
In Madhya Pradesh, instructions were given to get black films removed from window panes of cars at the earliest.
The state government has also issued directives for reviewing arms licences of those involved in crimes against women and girls and cancel the licences of persons found guilty prima facie.
The directives to initiate steps for effective check on crimes against women and girls have been given to all the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police in the state, an official release in Bhopal.
