The gang-rape of three minor girls which happened on August 8 at Ummir under the Diengpasoh Police Station was heinous, but surprisingly it hardly elicited any condemnation from any quarter.
Several legal practitioners spoken to say that they were surprised at this silence, warning that silence from the larger society only gives the rapists impunity and the silence encourages the stigmatization of the survivors. In crimes of this kind, the victims sorely need a morale booster and public expression of solidarity because they are often blamed for the crime instead of the perpetrators, they said.
“Leave alone getting some noise from the well known NGOs about town, there was nothing from the Meghalaya State Women’s Commission (MSWC), but it is shocking that the Commission for the Protection of Child Rights kept silent,” said one of them.
The lone statement came from the Civil Society Welfare Organization (CSWO) which not only condemned the crime and criminals but sought action from the government to make it easier for the survivors to make their appearances in the court or for counselling by providing those vehicles ferry them to and fro these places and also sought other support. Men with criminal intents smartly target girls from the marginalized families knowing that society at large will not react.
Meanwhile, some were worried that the minor girls, like many others would languish for years for justice as the POCSO cases, despite the Supreme Court’s standing order to fast track these and complete them within six months of filing chargesheet, are dragged on like in any ordinary case.
However, Meghalaya will have no excuse for dragging its feet over the more than 1000 pending cases under the POCSO Act 2012 as the union cabinet on August 4 approved the continuation of 1,023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) for another two years, at an outlay of Rs 1,572.86 crore. Meghalaya’s special fast track POCSO courts are included in this.
At the same time, one of the experts spoken to say that the men arrested under POCSO Act for gang rape on August 8 should also be garlanded with other sections of the IPC such as physical assault on the minors, wrongful confinement, attempt to kill, conspiracy with common intention to commit minor rape, enticing and luring and other sections.
It may be mentioned that the girls were lured to go on a date the friend of one of the girls with some other friends of the later, but as they drove in two wheelers towards Diengpasoh, more men joined them. A maruti car with several men also drove straight to the spot where the girls were being held, it is reported.
