New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to various union government ministries and departments to respond to a plea – by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association – for guidelines to ensure a safer environment for women, children, and transgender persons.
A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan then set a January date.
The petition was filed on the 12th anniversary of the Nirbhaya horror (the rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2012) and on the heels of several more recent cases of sexual abuse, including the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital in August.
Senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pawani, appearing for the petitioner, pointed out that not only are there a horrific number of such cases reported daily, but that many more were going unreported.
“(Since) the RG Kar Hospital incident… where a trainee doctor was raped and murdered, around 95 incidents of sexual violence have taken place but were not highlighted,” Ms Pavani said.
Offering a controversial solution to sex crimes, she called for chemical castration for those convicted of sexual assault, pointing out the penalty was permitted in certain other countries.
The court shot down that and other demands – dismissing them as “barbaric” and “harsh” – but acknowledged the possibility of certain others, and said some issues need to be examined, such as the safety of women and children using public transportation, including airlines.
“Proper social behaviour on public transport should not only be taught but implemented strictly… there were some inappropriate incidents reported from airlines also,” the court said.
Stringent laws have been passed, the court noted, with suitably strict punishments awaiting those found guilty of sexual crimes, but implementation, as many have flagged, is an issue.
The court said it needs to be seen “… where we are lacking in implementation of punitive and penal laws”, and issue a notice to government ministries and bodies via the Attorney General. “We appreciate you seeking relief for the common woman… who faces struggle in day-to-day life,” Justice Kant said.
In August, while the nation was in a furious uproar over the RG Kar rape-murder case, President Droupadi Murmu too recalled the Nirbhaya incident and said she had been left “dismayed… horrified” by the news of the Kolkata crime. “What is more depressing is that it (the Kolkata killing) was not the only incident of its kind…” and slammed the “obnoxious collective amnesia” that allows women and children to be harassed, assaulted, and brutalised on a daily basis.
READ | “Amnesia”: President Says Many Rapes Forgotten Since Nirbhaya
“Enough is enough. No civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities,” she said, “In 12 years since Nirbhaya (the gangrape and murder of a Delhi woman in 2012), countless rapes have been forgotten… this ‘collective amnesia’ is obnoxious.”
With input from PTI
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