Prior to the rape and murder of Hyderabad veterinarian ‘Disha’ in November last year, Chittoor district was rocked by the heinous rape and murder of a five-year-old girl on November 7.
The perpetrator, after sexually assaulting and murdering the child at a marriage hall on the outskirts of Madanapalle town at midnight, threw the girl’s body off the terrace into a 30-foot-deep ditch behind the building.
The brutality of the crime shocked denizens of the district into action, spurring thousands of girls to come out on to the streets demanding swift justice for the victim. Many demanded that the culprit be either hanged in full public view or be shot dead by police in an ‘encounter’. The outpouring of public anger also contributed in large measure to the emergence of the Disha Act.
The accused in the crime, a 25-year-old truck cleaner and a native of Madanapalle, was arrested ten days after the episode. Police had acted swiftly in the case, completing the chargesheet procedure under the POSCO Act within 20 days. Deputy Superintendent of Police (Madanapalle) A. Ravi Manohar Achari said, "We are expecting the judgment by January end. Once the Disha Act comes into force, such grave crimes against women could be judged in a matter of a week."
Post the Disha incident in Hyderabad, a 40-year-old tailor had allegedly raped a 12-year-old mentally challenged girl when she came to get her clothes stitched at Pullur Cross junction of S.R. Puram mandal in December last. Deputy SP (Puttur) D. Murali Krishna said that the chargesheet was filed in a record 21 days in this case. In another case, on January 16, a man was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting his minor daughter at Vedurukuppam mandal. "In this case also, we hope to file the chargesheet within the stipulated time," the official said.
Timely justice
Senior police officers maintain that the speed of filing chargesheets in these heinous crimes against women is a prelude to the forthcoming Disha Act. "The provisions of the Disha Act would definitely go a long way towards curbing crimes against women. Before committing a crime, one would definitely think of the Act," Mr. Murali Krishna said.
According to the statistics of the District Crime Records Bureau (Chittoor), as many as 166 cases of outraging the modesty of women were recorded in 2018, followed by 214 in 2019. As many as 64 cases of rape were recorded in two years, followed by 63 cases of women committing suicide. In all, as many as 1,053 cases were registered in the two years under sections dealing with grave crimes against women, including murder for dowry, domestic violence and harassment.
Meanwhile, the Chittoor police are vying to have the first ‘Disha Police Station’ in the State, for which the venue and a separate building are being readied. DIG (Anantapur) Kanti Rana Tata and Superintendent of Police (Chittoor) S. Senthil Kumar wrapped up an initial round of meetings on the setting up of the Disha Police Station in Chittoor. The Chittoor police are also at the forefront to implement the Disha Act, having already formed the unique ‘Mahila Mithra Committees’ at the village- and mandal-level, involving women from legal, police, and health and education departments.
