There seems to be no end to sexual assaults on women in India. Many of the offenders roam around freely without fearing the law. Horrific incidents of young girls being drugged with sedatives, kidnapped, tortured and raped should have led to uncompromising rules against the offenders by now.
Special fast-track courts, strong forensic abilities and commissions for the safety of women have been set up by the government in the past,?however, the unceasing judicial process has brought little respite to the survivors.
India¡¯s first 'National Registry Of Sexual Offenders' is an initiative towards ensuring women safety. With this India also becomes the ninth country in this world to maintain such a database,?The Indian Express reported.
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1)?The Indian Registry will include names, photographs, residential address, fingerprints, DNA samples as well as the PAN and Aadhaar Card numbers of the sexual offenders.
2) The database will be compiled using the details obtained from prisons across India. Around 4.5 lakh cases will include profiles of first-time as well as repeat offenders. On the basis of their criminal history, they will be classified as ¡°one-time¡± or ¡°serious¡± offenders, officials informed The Indian Express.
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3) A senior government official further revealed that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) that comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs will maintain this data. It will also be available to law enforcement agencies for carrying out investigation and employee verification.
4) The United States National registry of sex offenders maintained by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) allows even the common public to access it. However, unlike the U.S, the Indian data will only available to law enforcement agencies in the country.
5) Other countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago also provide their data only to enforcement agencies.
6) The data of offenders that pose a ¡®low danger¡¯ will be maintained for 15 years, 25 years for those who present a ¡®moderate danger¡¯ whereas ¡°habitual offenders, violent criminals, convicts in gangrape and custodial rapes¡¯¡¯ will have a database that is maintained for a lifetime.
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7) Arrested and chargesheeted offenders will also find their names in the database through its access will be confined only to officers with a requisite clearance. Reportedly, juvenile offenders will also be included at a later stage.
The decision to set up this database was taken in April this year following the massive outrage over the rape of an eight-year-old in Jammu and Kashmir¡¯s Kathua followed by Unnao and other serious assaults of teenagers including the recent Rewari gang rape in Haryana.
The abhorrent sexual assault case of at least 34 girls at Muzaffarpur shelter home in Bihar has made the Indians even more wary of such ¡®safe homes¡¯. Proper medical and rehabilitation centres, additional public prosecutors, stringent laws and an updated database will keep sexual violence against women in check.