Should statements of rape victims be recorded by male police officers?
22 Aug, 2013
The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that in seven cases of rape in Chandigarh, the statements of the victims were recorded by the male police personnel instead of the female officers. Sources revealed that the statements were recorded by male police officer despite their female counterparts being available in the respective police stations. Sources also revealed that apart from the rape cases, many cases of sexual harassment were also being investigated by the male officers.
This is to be mentioned that Justice JS Verma Committee, set up after the Delhi gang rape case in December 2012, had recommended that statements of victims of rape and sexual harassment cases should be recorded only by women police officers. It had also recommended that the policemen violating the rule will be prosecuted under Section 166A of IPC. The recommendations of the committee have already been enforced since February 3, 2013. Yet, the union territory police have failed to take action against the cops who violated the rules.