With all the 15 cases of rape registered at the police stations of Kendrapada district during January 1 to May 31, 2015 having ended with acquittal, the top brass of the State police seems very upset.
This has happened when the police are claiming to be taking proactive steps in sensitive cases involving rape and other heinous offences by treating them as red flag cases and with regular monitoring by district SPs as well as by the Crime Branch.
The Crime Branch of police is keeping track of the sensitive cases and their trial. Additional DGP of Crime Branch BK Sharma is monitoring these cases, including crimes against women on a regular basis. As per information received from the district SPs from January 1 to May 31, a total of 869 rape cases have been registered and trial of 246 cases of rape has been completed. Hence, disposal from the courts vis-à-vis registration is 28 per cent.
Out of the 246 trial-completed cases, only 51 cases, accounting for 21 per cent, ended in conviction while 195 cases, amounting to 79 per cent cases, ended in acquittal. Officials say that many acquittals arose out of compromise between the victim and the accused because of marriage and family or village intervention.
Districts like Baleswar has reported maximum disposal of 32 cases while Koraput (25), Keonjhar (17) and Jajpur (18) have reported such a good number of disposal of cases.
The conviction rate is highest in Gajapati, where seven out of 12 cases, that is 60 per cent, ended in conviction of the accused. Districts like Balangir, Bargarh and Nuapada have reported good conviction percentage.
However, on acquittal count, Kendrapada is the worst, where cent percent cases ended up in acquittal and it was followed by Koraput, where 23 out of 25 ended in acquittal. In Baleswar, 27 out of 32 cases ended up in acquittal.
Similarly, all the eight cases in Subarnapur and six cases in Nuapada ended in acquittal, official sources revealed.
Keeping this in view, the Crime Branch has prescribed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to the district police chiefs for investigation of crimes against women.
In order to achieve better results, Special Public Prosecutors have been appointed in 75 rape cases to achieve better results in trial.
Integrated anti-human trafficking units (IAHTUs) have been made operational so far in 17 districts and important cases of kidnapping and other heinous crimes are being investigated by these units.