West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the second time seeking “stringent central legislation” with “exemplary punishment” for rape.
The Trinamool Congress chief first wrote to the prime minister on August 22 on the “regular and increasing occurrence of rape cases throughout the country” in light of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead at the medical institute on August 9. The incident sparked protests across the country.
On Thursday, Banerjee said she was yet to receive a reply from the prime minister on the “sensitive” matter.
The West Bengal chief minister said she received a reply from the Minister of Women and Child Development Annapurna Devi, which barely addressed the gravity of the issue raised in the letter.
“I am of the thought that the seriousness of the subject and its relevance to the society have not been adequately appreciated while sending out this generic reply,” she said. “Not only so, I would also refer to some of the initiatives in the area that our state has already taken which appears to have been overlooked in the reply.”
Earlier this week, in her response to Banerjee, Devi criticised the West Bengal government for its alleged failure to implement crucial safety measures for women, the Hindustan Times reported.
Devi noted that the state government was allotted 123 fast-track special courts from the Centre. Of the total, 20 were supposed to be exclusive Protection of Children from Sexual Offences courts and 103 combined fast-track special courts that dealt with both rape and cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences.
“However, none of these courts had been operationalised till mid-June, 2023,” the letter said.
The state government also failed to implement key emergency helplines such as the Women Helpline, Emergency Response Support System and Child Helpline, Devi said.
In the letter on Thursday, Banerjee said that the state government approved 10 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences courts. “In addition to this, 88 FTSCs [fast-track special courts] and 62 POCSO [Protection of Children from Sexual Offences] designated courts are functioning throughout the state on complete state funding.”
She added: “Monitoring and disposal of cases is completely in the hands of the courts”.
The chief minister also noted that only retired judicial officers could be posted as presiding officers in fast-track special courts as per the guidelines of the Centre. “…but Hon’ble High Court has observed that in view of the severity of the cases, permanent judicial officers need to be posted,” she said.
This would require “examination at the level of Government of India and suitable action thereafter, for which your [Modi] intervention would be necessary,” Banerjee added.
The letter also said that helpline numbers 112 and 1098 were satisfactorily working in the state. “In addition, Dial – 100 is also extensively used in emergency situations.”
The chief minister also reiterated the need for “stringent central legislation and exemplary punishment on heinous crimes of rape/rape and murder with mandatory provision for disposal of cases in a specific time-frame by the trial authorities”.
Also read: What a brutal crime in a Kolkata hospital reveals about the dangers women doctors face in India