The government’s proposed sex offenders’ registry, cleared by the Union cabinet last week, has been in the pipeline for the past six years. First mooted by the UPA government after the 2012 Delhi gang-rape of a paramedical student, the registry still remains at the mercy of investigating officers.
The government proposes to compile an online database of charge-sheeted sexual offenders in across the country. The data is to be fed into the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). Over 90% of police stations in the country are interlinked now and a pan-India search for details of any suspect can be conducted at the click of a button.
Incomplete picture
However, an official familiar with the developments said Investigating Officers (IO), responsible for feeding the data in CCTNS were not prompt in doing so, giving an incomplete picture.
“The work on preparing the registry is not new. The IOs are supposed to update the columns and tables in the database as and when an accused has been chargesheeted or convicted. This is not happening, leading to incomplete data,” said a senior Home Ministry official.
The official said the database would be available only when all the States provide the complete data.
“The call has to be taken by the government, if they want the data on persons accused of sexual offences, or those who have been chargesheeted or only convicted. Data can be retrieved through any permutation or combination, if details are filled in by the IOs, and then the database can be uploaded,” said the official.
The database is on the lines of those maintained in western countries including the U.S. and U.K.
The Union Cabinet on April 21 announced that a sex offenders' registry was being created to compile the data on such offenders. The announcement was made in wake of the outrage over the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu district.
On April 27, 2016, the government had informed the Rajya Sabha that details of sexual offenders — even below the age of 18 — would be included in the database, which will be put up on the website of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). It also said the government planned to publicise their photographs, addresses, PAN card details, Aadhaar card number, fingerprints and DNA samples through this registry.
Government had said the initial consultation draft includes the registration of individuals “convicted for offences like rape, voyeurism, stalking and aggravated sexual assault” and includes the possibility of registration of “offenders below and above 18 years”.
With the proposed registry, the government plans to collate extensive information on the offender from names and aliases to personal and professional details.
