Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the country needs faster verdicts in cases of crimes against women to ensure their safety. He noted that atrocities against women and the safety of children are matters of grave concern for society. The PM’s comments came amid the outrage over the rape-murder of a woman doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata.
“There are several laws in the country that address the issue of women’s safety. In 2019, the fast-track courts law was passed, under which witness deposition centres were created. District monitoring committees play an important role. We must ensure these committees are further strengthened and that faster verdicts are delivered in cases involving women’s safety,” PM Modi said.
Addressing an event in Delhi on the 75 years of the Supreme Court, he said, “Today, atrocities against women, the safety of children… are serious concerns of society. Many strict laws have been made in the country for the safety of women, but we need to make it more active”.
“The faster the decisions are taken in cases related to atrocities against women, the greater assurance of safety half the population will get,” he emphasised.
The Prime Minister made these remarks a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to him, reiterating her request for stringent central legislation and exemplary punishment for heinous crimes like rape and murder. The Trinamool Congress supremo also said that she had written to the Prime Minister earlier but had received no reply from him on the “sensitive issue”.
The central government, responding to Banerjee’s letter, also stated that existing laws are strong enough to deal with such crimes and urged the state to act in letter and spirit.
“If the state government follows the central legislation in letter and spirit, it will certainly have a lasting impact on strengthening the criminal justice system, bringing the perpetrators of such crimes to face the consequences commensurate with the offence and also in ensuring justice to the victims or survivors,” Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Annapurna Devi, said.
PM Modi, at the Supreme Court event, also stressed that several steps have been initiated in the past 10 years to eliminate delays in delivering justice and to improve judicial infrastructure.
