‘Low conviction rate spurring sexual assault cases in India’

In 2011, Only 25% Men Accused Of Rape Found Guilty

    Sexual assaults on women across the country increased by 25% in the six years to 2011 and a significant contributory cause of the alarming trend, legal experts believe, was the low conviction rate in rape cases. 
    According to data collated by the National Crime Records Bureau, 19,348 instances of rape were recorded in India in 2006. By the year 2008, the figure rose to 21,467, and by the year 2011, it was 24,206. This 25% rise in six years, legal experts assert, assumes more disturbing shades, given the poor conviction rate in sexual assault cases. 
    Last year, across India, the police filed chargesheets in nearly 94% of the incidents of rape but, separately, convictions were achieved in just 25% of the rape cases pending before courts. Compared to this, the police filed chargesheets in 85% of murder cases and convictions were realized in 40% of such trials before the judiciary. 
    This considerable variation puzzles legal eagles. They point out that the filing of a chargesheet means the police have thoroughly investigated a crime; it also signifies that law-enforcers have a prima facie case, with strong evidence, to establish that the accused person committed the offence. Why is it then, lawyers ask, that the police case so often falls apart when the trial starts in court? How are teams of defence lawyers so frequently able to punch holes in police contentions, eventually securing freedom for their clients? 
    "The police must ensure that they file the chargesheet as far as possible within the stipulated time limit of 90 days. Equally importantly, they should ensure that the evidence, gathered scientifically, is incontestable," said human rights lawyer Mihir Desai. 
    In Mumbai, a Right to Information Act (RTI) query revealed that between 2001 and 2010 there were approximately 400 unsolved murder cases and around 115 unsolved cases of sexual assault. 
    Activist Jeetendra Ghadge, who filed the RTI application, said, "The main problem is that, due to the abysmal conviction rates, there is no fear of law among criminals. A recent example of this was the sexual assault on a Spanish expatriate in the city. The accused there was out on bail for 10 different crimes involving break-ins." 
    When cases are not solved over a prolonged period, Ghadge said, the police can close them by filing 'A' summary reports. But when they make such a decision in a rape case, he continued, cops forget that they are deepening the trauma of the victim and leaving multitudes of women exposed to the unidentified sexual assaulter. 
    Women's activist and lawyer Flavia Agnes said her NGO Majlis has undertaken a study of rape cases in Mumbai and will soon compile data on convictions and acquittals. "The aim of the study is to examine actual cases that were tried, identify the loopholes in the system and find ways to plug them. This would help the prosecution in conducting better trials in future," explained Agnes. "The data and material gathered so far shows a very low conviction rate in rape cases." 
    In Maharashtra, the overall conviction rate stood at less than 9% in 2011. For this too, legal experts blame the poor coordination between the police machinery and prosecutors. 
    In an effort to bring in some change, the state government set up a committee two years ago. The panel recommended weekly meetings between police officers and prosecutors during investigations and later monthly meetings between senior policemen and prosecutors. The idea, unfortunately for the state, is yet to take root. 
TERRIBLE SHAME FOR SOCIETY DAMAGING THE CAUSE 
The low conviction rate in rape cases is owed to several reasons, primary among them being police ineptness. Lawyers say the men in khaki often fail to collect evidence properly, enfeebling the prosecution's case in court: 
Forensic evidence is vital in rape trials. That is why rules unambiguously state the procedures for evidence collection and analysis. Police are mandated to follow a process for custody and storage of samples of vaginal swabs, skin and other agents—but they seldom do. This disregard of rules causes trouble for the prosecution and frequently leads to acquittal of the accused 
Police do not get the victim's medical examination conducted in time. The delay leads to flawed results and erasure of cogent evidence, such as presence of semen 
Chargesheets are often filed late despite the 90-day deadline. To curb this trend, lawyers say, errant cops should be suspended and punished if they fail to provide suitable reasons for the delay 
Given the frequent bungling by cops, legal eagles suggest appointment of special prosecutors for rape trials to ensure that the evidence gathered by policemen in such cases is incontestable and incontrovertible 
Trial courts are occasionally faced with a peculiar situation. As the trial gets drawn out due to judicial backlog, the victim's statement at times slightly diverges from that recorded in the FIR or before a magistrate. Lawyers recommend fasttracking rape trials—even establishment of a 60-day deadline—to avert this setback and to ensure that the victim's trauma is not played out in court for a prolonged period 
A major requirement in cases of sexual assault is sensitivity. Victims have to recount the trauma in court (even in an in-camera trial) for the judge. That is why, experts insist, it is imperative that prosecutors handle the victims with extreme sensitivity

Home NaMo Sweepaya Gujarat Wants Modi, But Does He Want Only Gujarat? His Big Hat-Trick In State Will Fuel Ambitions Of Going National. Will It Be Rahul Vs Modi In 2014?

"You should now get used to hearing me speak in Hindi," Narendra Modi told the adulatory droves, gathered to celebrate his emphatic victory, when they insisted that he speak in Gujarati. 

    The sudden switch to Hindi for someone who spoke in little else but Gujarati throughout the election campaign led to an obvious interpretation—Modi, having scored a hat-trick, was now flashing his fortified claim to be the BJP's choice for prime minister in 2014, setting the stage for a presidentialtype race with Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha polls. 
    Although Modi said he did not plan to camp in New Delhi and would visit the capital only for a day on December 27 for the National Development Council meet, his devotees were already serenading him with "desh ka neta kaisa ho, Narendra bhai jaisa ho" chants. 
    Modi won 115 seats, just a couple short of his previous tally of 117 seats in the 2007 election. Modi's victory came against the backdrop of indifference, even opposition, from a section of the RSS, hostility of an influential and tenacious faction of civil society and the Congress's tacit understanding with BJP rebel Keshubhai Patel who sought to rally his community against the chief minister. 
DECODING THE WIN 
Tireless Campaigner | Modi addressed 250 rallies and reached out to 180 more locations through 3D projections. Sonia Gandhi addressed 7 and Rahul Gandhi 8 election meetings 
Sweeps Urban Seats | Delimitation increased urban seats. BJP won 12 of 16 seats in Ahmedabad, all 12 in Surat, and all 5 in Vadodara 
Safely Home | Modi was perturbed by the surging crowds of women a few months back when the Congress started distributing lakhs of forms to the homeless, promising them subsidized housing. But the results in seats with mainly poor neighbourhoods show the Congress was building castles in the air 
Sad-Bhavana | The last assembly had 5 Muslim MLAs, the new one will have only two, both from Cong. The BJP didn't give a ticket to any Muslim 
Turnout Works | The unusually high voter turnout of 71.9% was the key to the BJP's big win. This was almost 10% higher than in the previous two assembly polls. Modi told voters to come out and vote for him, not the candidates. The personality cult worked 
Caste Contours Change | Call it social engineering, Modi style. With Leuva Patels swinging away from the BJP, especially under Keshubhai's influence in Saurashtra, the OBCs consolidated around the BJP. This was seen as a reaction to the ganging up of the dominant Patels in the countryside 
Exchange Programme | Cong, BJP wrested 30 seats from each other. Cong gained in Saurashtra & N Gujarat, conceded seats to BJP in central and S Gujarat. 5 ministers lost their seats, but so did Guj Cong president Arjun Modhwadia 
Batting Failure | Armed with a 'bat' as an election symbol, 84-year-old Keshubhai padded up for a match with Modi but flattered to deceive. He retired hurt, scoring only two but managed to inflict some body blows in Saurashtra where the BJP slipped by nine seats 
Bharuch Breached | The Congress won no seat in Bharuch district, home turf of Sonia's political secretary Ahmed Patel. Of the five seats, the BJP won four and the JD(U) one. Modi targeted Patel by calling him Ahmed 'Miyan' Patel and mischievously claiming he was the Congress' CM candidate 
Pro-Incumbency | Modi's strategy every time he faced an election was to drop most of the candidates — a good way to fight anti-incumbency at the local level. As the rejects would have switched over to Keshubhai, he decided to repeat most of the candidates and coined the word pro-incumbency 
    Modi is the 13th politician to serve at least 3 consecutive terms as CM. 
Including him, there are 6 such CMs serving at present, including Tarun Gogoi (Assam), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), Okram Ibobi Singh (Manipur), Manik Sarkar (Tripura) & Sheila Dikshit (Delhi) 
    Gujarat is one of 7 states where Cong has been out of power for at least 20 years. The others are Bihar, Sikkim, Tripura, TN, UP and Bengal (barring a brief stint as junior coalition partner with Trinamool). These 7 states together account for 230 Lok Sabha seats

2002, 2007, 2012...2014? WILL MODI BE BJP'S POSTER BOY IN THE NEXT LOK SABHA POLLS?