Conviction rate in State far behind tiol rate

Intertiol Women’s Day today; Assam fares badly in fighting crimes against women

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, March 7: Assam has all along been faring badly in so far as crime against women is concerned. What should worry those at the helm of affairs is case conviction and person conviction rates in the State lagging far behind tiol rates.

According to tiol Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) information provided by the Assam Police, in 2016 as many as 20869 cases of crimes against women were registered in Assam against 23365 in 2015 and 19169 in 2014. Even as the trend seemed to have fluctuated in the three preceding years, the mece is far from being arrested.

In 2016 the number of cases against which charge sheets were issue were 11004, against 12287 in 2015 and 10039 in 2014. The number of persons issued charge sheets were 11589 in 2016 against 21593 in 2015 and 11943 in 2014. Cases in which trials were completed were 6522 in 2016 against 7079 in 2015 and 5722 in 2014. The figures show that the rate of completion of trials is very poor. The numbers of conviction of cases were 470 (7.2 per cent) in 2016 against 667 (9.5 per cent) in 2015 and 518 (9.1 per cent) in 2014. The numbers of persons convicted were 475 in 2016 against 741 in 2015 and 556 in 2014.

The 7.2 per cent case conviction rate in Assam in 2016 is against the 18.9 per cent tiol case conviction rate, the highest being in Mizoram with 88.8 per cent and Meghalaya with 66.7 per cent in 2016. These figures show how Assam fared badly on this front.

Police sources, however, say that it is very difficult to control crimes against women unless the mindset of people, in general, undergoes a positive change. From time to time awareness programmes like street dramas, workshops, semirs, etc., are held at district level.

Crimes that are considered crimes against women  are – dowry death, abetment of suicide of women, causing miscarriage without women’s consent, deaths caused by Act done with intent to cause miscarriage, acid attack, attempt to acid attack, cruelty by husband and his relatives, kidpping and abduction of women, import of girls from foreign country, human trafficking, rape, attempt to commit rape, untural offence, assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty, insult to modesty of women, etc.

Such crimes are being dealt under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961;  Protection of Women from Domestic Violation Act, 2005 and Publishing or Transmitting Sexually Explicit Material (Sec 67A IT Act), and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.

All such crimes are reported in Assam. Will the powers that be at Dispur take a vow to fight crimes against women with an iron hand on the Intertiol Women’s Day slated to be observed all over the world on March 8.