Gang rape of a Delhi university medical student in south Delhi has rightfully outraged the whole nation. Every upright citizen is asking for justice – quick justice. Every activist, every journalist, every celebrity, every twitterctual and every female legislator in the parliament (wonder where male legislators were…) is asking for quick justice. I can fully understand that the issue at hand is very emotional and thus people are justifiably angry and want rapists to be publicly hanged at four-way crossing. That instant justice might give all of us a quick satisfaction and closure but it will not provide the long-term sustainable solution that is needed to protect the dignity of our women and citizens at large. It will be a short-term band-aid for a deep-rooted problem. It will bring the rapists, the monsters in human's clothing, to instant justice but that is all it will be. It will be soon forgotten and life for the women of India will be same – devoid of security, honor and dignity.
A large section of society is clamoring for new and stricter laws. I personally don't believe that we need any new laws. What we desperately need is the strict implementation of existing laws. Criminals in our country are not committing crimes due to lack of laws. They are committing crimes because they know that they can get away with these crimes by "managing" the system. It is the "management' of system that needs to be eradicated. If existing laws were strictly implemented per the book, many such crimes would be prevented.
In my humble opinion, here is what ought to be done to streamline the implementation of existing laws that shall provide the sense of security to our women and citizens at large:
Sexual Harassment Prevention Police Units
Each municipal locality needs to have police units exclusively focused on sexual harassment prevention. These police units need to be totally separated from other day-to-day policing work. Sexual harassment victims need to be able to reach these units 24x7 via a phone call. Many have suggested phone systems like 999, 911 et al. Again, it is a matter of implementation. Today we already have "Call 100 for Police, Fire" but how efficient is. We need to make sure these systems actually work and are used effectively. Each call to the unit has to be recorded for evidence purposes. Each call has to be treated as SOS call and help needs to be dispatched and delivered to the victims on a priority basis. Each complaint has to be registered instantly without any red tape.
Sexual Harassment Prevention Legal Cells
Once the sexual harassment complaint has been filed; case needs to be investigated on a priority basis in a time-bound (60-90 days) fashion. Even though the accused has rights to "due process", these cases cannot linger on for ages. It is these delays in delivery of justice that encourages criminals. We need to dramatically cut short the delivery time so that bad guys are taken off the streets and put away for long times. Crimes like rape are already non-bailable offences and should stay that way. Such criminals cannot roam free on streets while their cases are trudging along in our legal world.
Organizational Reporting
Both Sexual Harassment Prevention Units and Sexual Harassment Prevention Legal Cells need to reside in one department (Department of Citizen's Dignity), which organizationally reports directly to local DC. There should be no red-tape and sixteen levels of hierarchy that victims have to walk through. DCs should be the person responsible for ensuring that these two departments are working efficiently and honestly. DCs should be held responsible for the performance of these departments. Their compensation needs to be tied to their performance. No more automatic annual increment and dearness allowance. Like all of us, they need to earn their pay check.
Online Reporting
All Sexual Harassment Prevention Units and Sexual Harassment Prevention Legal Cells need to be electronically connected. All the data (complaints, periodic status of each complaint, weekly dashboard reporting etc.) need to be made available online for general public. Once performance of each unit is available online for all to see, there will be social pressure on these units to perform.
National Sex-Offender Registry
After an accused is actually convicted of sexual offence, his/her name ought to be registered in the National Sex-Offender Registry. This registry has to be available online for public viewing. This registry will serve two purposes: (a) help shame these sex-offenders publicly and (b) help employers to screen potential employees. Large posters with pictures of these sex-offenders should be pasted in their respective local post offices. This public shaming of the accused can work as a deterrent.
Lastly
In addition to streamlining the implementation of existing laws, we as a society also need to look within and see what is creating these monsters in the first place. I believe that even though it is primarily a policing and governance issue, there is definitely a societal component there as well. Societies, where thousands of rapes occur in a month, cannot just blame everything on the policing and legal system. Families, particularly parents, need to take responsibility as well and think about how they are rearing their children and what kind of citizens they are providing to the nation. Crime rates in any society are always related to the prevailing social environment. We all need to take a step back and see what kind of societies we are creating and what kind of social environment we are providing to our children and future generations. Societies where "Chikni Chameli", "Munni Badnam Huee", "Sheila Ki Jawani" are topping the music charts need to go for a deep introspection and see where we are headed. I am not in any way condoning or justifying the rapes. These rapists are inhuman beasts and should be taken off the streets right away and kept away for long long time. There is absolutely no justification for any rape or sexual harassment. But we cannot just blame the government system. We need to do our part too.
