The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)’s task force on sex offender registry is expected to submit its report by April 15. The sex offender registry will have details of all convicted sex offenders. Sources in the MHA said that the sex offender registry was being set up on the lines of similar practices in western countries, including the US and UK. It will include registration of individuals convicted for offences like rape, voyeurism, stalking and aggravated sexual assault.
“Details of such sexual offenders will be put up on the National Crime Records Bureau website,” an official said. There is a possibility of registration of offenders below and above 18 years. Setting up a sex offender registry is part of the Home Ministry’s project to link the country’s 15,000 police stations as part of its Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems project. The Home Ministry has set a deadline (March 2019) to link country’s police stations.
The move has come amid widespread demands for tougher action on sexual violence, more than three years since the fatal gangrape of a physiotherapy student in Delhi two years ago. The Ministry for Women and Child Development is also pushing the need to set up the registry after a convicted sex offender allegedly confessed to have raped hundreds of girls for over 10 years in New Delhi.
As per the draft, the extensive information on the offender will be collected. “This will include inter-alia, name and aliases – registration of primary or given name, nicknames, pseudonyms, interact identifiers and addresses, telephone numbers, addresses including temporary lodging information, travel and immigration documents, employment information, professional licenses, school/college/institute information, vehicle information, date of birth, criminal history, current photograph, fingerprints and palm prints, DNA sample, driving license, identification card, PAN, Aadhaar number and voter ID number,” said the sources.
After the report, the Home Ministry will consult all stakeholders including state governments, law enforcement agencies and law commission. Sex offender registries exist in many countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, the US is the only country with a registry that is publicly accessible.
According to a National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report 2016, as many as 39 crimes against women were reported every hour in India, up from 21 in 2007. The rate of crime against women — crimes per 100,000 female population — was 55.2 in 2016, up from 41.7 in 2012. The rate of conviction for the offence of rape is at an abysmal 18.9 percent and worse still, the rate of pendency for rape cases is at a staggering 88% in 2016.
West Bengal, which registered the second most number of crimes in 2016, reported the lowest conviction rate (3.3 percent). Mizoram reported the highest conviction rate (88.8 per cent) in 2016, followed by Meghalaya (67.7 per cent), Puducherry (62.5 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (52.6 per cent) and Uttarakhand (46.2 per cent). In 2016, one in four rape cases in India ended in conviction, the lowest since 2012.
As per NCRPB, Delhi has reported the highest crime rate (160.4%), against the national average of 55.2%, followed by Assam (131.3%), Odisha (84.5%), Telangana (83.7%) and Rajasthan (78.3%). Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, reported the highest number (15 per cent) of crimes against women in 2016 — 49,262, or six every hour, followed by West Bengal (32,513), Maharashtra (31,388), Rajasthan (27,422) and Madhya Pradesh (26,604).
“With a poor conviction rate and a majority of cases still pending before courts, how would a register aid in preventing sexual offences by former convicts,” criminal lawyer Murari Tiwari questioned when asked to comment on the move.