Taking a slew of measures to strengthen the investigation and prosecution machinery for handling criminal offences against women and children, Punjab Government has decided to set up nine more fast-track courts under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act along with the sexual assault response teams in all the 27 police districts of the State to deal with cases of sexual attacks on women.
The decisions, taken during an inter-departmental meeting of the Punjab Government on Monday, are in line the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s recent directives for ensuring time-bound investigations in cases of crime against women and children, and improving the prosecution rate in such cases.
During a high-level virtual meeting, the state Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan directed the officials to clear the pendency of cases related to women and children from the period 2016 to 2020 through quality investigations on priority.
She also directed the officials to lay down Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to fast-track the investigation of sexual offences against women and children by specifying the roles and responsibilities of all departments with regard to such cases.
Mahajan also ordered the constitution of a State Level Committee, headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) – Home, to review the monthly progress of pending cases.
She directed the Health, Police, and Prosecution Departments to appoint a nodal officer for better inter-departmental synergy to deal with investigation of criminal cases related to women and child, and also manage the necessary programmes for training of personnel in this regard.
At the same time, the Chief Secretary announced that the State Government will also recruit additional Scientific Officers and Forensic Experts to ensure faster disposal of cases pending with Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
She added that the process of approval to provide compensation to the victims will also be eased so that such payments are made without any delay.
Mahajan also directed the Home Department to expedite the establishment of nine other Fast-Track Courts, for which approval has been granted by the Government, in addition to the three such courts already operational in Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Notably, seven fast track courts dealing with rape cases are also already functional in the State.
It was also informed during the meeting that to mark the International Women’s Day on March 8, the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will be launching various projects for the welfare of women and children.
The state Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta, also present during the meeting, informed that the Police Department plans to set up Sexual Assault Response Teams in all 27 Police Districts to deal with sexual assault cases, besides holding weekly meetings to discuss and monitor progress of all such cases under investigation cases.
Gupta said that Dedicated Help Desks, already established at all police stations and manned by women, for attending to complaints of women, will be functioning from SAANJH Kendras located in close vicinity to the Police Stations.
The DGP also suggested that some additional district level special prosecutors may be appointed to deal with cases related with sexual assault.
“The Punjab Police Academy (PPA), Phillaur, will organize joint training sessions and individual workshops for various departments, including Police, Health, Prosecution, and Forensic Science Laboratory, for better coordination to handle such cases,” he said, adding that the first batch of training will commence within three weeks, initially online and later in physical mode too.
For proper utilisation of the Nirbhaya Funds, the Punjab Police will upgrade forensic gadgets, mobiles and IT equipment etc to deal with online cyber offences against women and children, said the DGP.