MHA says, ‘Number of initiatives taken for safety of women’
Srinagar, July 28: 9,765 women have gone missing from their homes in Jammu and Kashmir between 2019 to 2021.
In response to a question in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra informed the parliament that 9,765 women have gone missing from their homes in Jammu and Kashmir between 2019 to 2021.
In these three years, there were 1148 cases of missing girls below the age of 18 and 8,617 women aged above 18 women have gone missing.
Jammu and Kashmir ranks second among the UTs in the list with Delhi on top. Between 2019 and 2021, 22, 919 girls below 18 years of age and 61, 050 below the age of 18 have gone missing in Delhi.
In 2021, Maharashtra tops the list in India. The state has reported 56,498 cases of missing women who are above 18 years of age.
However the MHA has said that it is taking cognizance of reports of all missing girls and women.
“‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including investigation and prosecution of crime against women rest with the respective State Governments.The State Governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws. However, the Government of India has taken a number of initiatives for the safety of women across the country,” the government informed the Parliament.
“The Criminal Law (Amendment), Act 2013 was enacted for effective deterrence against sexual offences. Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted to prescribe even more stringent penal provisions including death penalty for rape of girls completion of investigation and filing of charge sheet in rape cases in 2 months and trials to be completed in 2 months”.
“Emergency Response Support System provides a pan-India, single internationally recognized number (112) based system for all emergencies, with computer aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a cyber-crime reporting portal on 20th September, 2018 for citizens to report obscene content.
MHA has launched the “National Database on Sexual Offenders” (NDSO) on 20th September 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies”. MHA has launched an online analytic tool “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” for Police on 19th February 2019 to facilitate them to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018. In order to improve investigation, MHA has taken steps to strengthen DNA analysis units in Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories. This includes setting up of State-of-the-Art DNA Analysis Unit in Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh.
MHA has also sanctioned setting-up and upgrading of DNA Analysis units in State Forensic Science Laboratories after gap analysis and demand assessment. MHA has notified guidelines for collection of forensic evidence in sexual assault cases and the standard composition in a sexual assault evidence collection kit. To facilitate adequate capacity in manpower, training and skill building programs have been undertaken for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers. Bureau of Police Research & Development has distributed 14,950 Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits to States/ UTs as orientation kit as part of training”.
MHA has also approved two projects for setting up and strengthening of Women Help Desks in Police Stations and Anti- Human Trafficking Units in all districts of the country. In addition to the above-mentioned measures, the Ministry of Home Affairs have issued advisories from time to time with a view to help the States/UTs to deal with crimes against women, which are available at www.mha.gov.in.
In addition to this, the Ministry of Women & Child Development has set up 733 One Stop Centres in the country. These centres provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence and in distress, under one roof and provide an integrated range of services including medical aid, legal aid, temporary shelter, police assistance, psycho-social counseling”.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also painted a sobering picture of J&K reporting an increase in cases registered for crimes against senior citizens, women, and children over the last few years.
According to the MHA, the number of cases registered under crime against women had increased from 3069 in 2019 to 3937 in 2021 while the number of cases registered under crime against senior citizens had increased from one in 2019 to 40 cases registered in 2021.
The MHA reported that the number of cases registered under crime against children has increased from 470 in 2019 to 845 cases in 2021.
With regard to the surge in cases, the MHA has again stated that the responsibilities to maintain law and order and protection of life and property of the citizens including investigation and prosecution of crime against women rest with the respective governments.
“The state governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws,” the MHA said.
As per the official figures, the cases registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, during 2019-2021 had increased from 109 to 294 from 2019 to 2021.
The MHA figures also reveal that the number of juveniles apprehended under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) increased from six to nine from 2019 to 2021.
“The number of cases registered under IPC and SLL crimes (juveniles in conflict with the law) has increased from 299 to 323 during 2019-21,” the official document reads.
The MHA also revealed that the number of cases booked for possession of drugs for personal use and trafficking under the NDPS Act also increased from 2019 to 2021. According to the MHA, the number of cases booked for possession of drugs for personal use increased from 255 in 2019 to 357 in 2021 while the number of cases booked for possession of drugs for trafficking has increased from 918 to 1324 during 2019-2021.
