On November 27 last, a woman veterinarian who was returning home after a medical check-up was abducted by four persons near Tondupally toll gate in Hyderabad, allegedly gang raped and murdered. Her charred body was found a day later at an underpass near Chatanpalli.
The incident shook the nation, triggering widespread protests, as it happened after the Nirbhaya gang rape case in New Delhi in 2012.
Post Nirbhaya case, the Union Government passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 (Nirbhaya Act) on March 19, 2013, to speed up such cases and bring more types of offences against women under its ambit.
Taking a cue from this and the Hyderabad incident, the Andhra Pradesh government passed the Disha Act. The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed two Bills — Andhra Pradesh Disha Act (AP Special Courts for Specified Offences against Women and Children Act 2019), and AP Disha Act – Criminal Law (AP Amendment) Act 2019. This Act envisages the completion of investigation in seven days and trial in 14 working days, which gives a total window of 21 days for the trial.
Apprehensions
Though the Disha Act was welcomed by many sections of the people, there were a few, including from the law enforcement agencies and legal fraternity, who expressed apprehensions.
"While on the one hand the Disha Act addresses the issue ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ on the other, there is apprehension about ‘let a hundred guilty be acquitted, but one innocent should not be convicted’," said Kupilli Muralidhar from the District Legal Services Authority.
According to a few law enforcement officers, it may be difficult to complete the investigation within seven days, given the present circumstances of manpower crunch and lack of infrastructure, including availability of adequately-staffed and well-equipped forensic laboratories.
Many police officers feel that forensic reports play a crucial role in the investigation and it is difficult to get a complete report within seven days.
‘Not difficult’
But former Director-General of Police N. Sambasiva Rao differs. According to him, if there is will there is a way. "With the present advancement in forensic science getting a semen report and matching it with the accused or for that matter a DNA report is not a difficult task. They can be given within three days, if a team is dedicated to the task," he said.
The legal fraternity also expressed doubts about the functioning of the legal procedure and lack of dedicated courts to handle such cases.
Direction to officers
To address the issue, Director-General of Police Gautam Sawang has a task cut out for his force and has given a standard operating procedure.
According to the new directive, every city and town will have a dedicated police station for women. And wherever there is a dedicated police station, it will be strengthened with adequate staff and officers and infrastructure.
In tune with that the envisaged Women Police Station (WPS), the WPS in Visakhapatnam is likely to be upgraded as ‘Disha Police Station’ with additional infrastructure very soon.
The WPS will be moved to a new building that is coming up near Yendada to accommodate the required strength, said Commissioner of Police R.K. Meena.
Apart from increasing the strength of the Women Police Station, the officers and staff will get and increase in pay by 30%, to act as a motivational gesture, he said.
It is learnt that the special police station will have a peoples friendly look with counsellors and will be under the control of a DSP or ACP rank officer. The proposal is to have at least three inspectors and five sub-inspectors under the ACP and about 30 constables, said a senior police officer.
All the staff will be trained to handle evidences efficiently using scientific methods from the crime scene, he added.
Evidence from the crime scene plays and important role and it all depends on how it is gathered and processed to make the case water tight, said DCP (Zone-I) Ranga Reddy.
