SHILLONG: Senior advocate of the Supreme Court and human rights activist Colin Gonsalves said on Saturday the only way to tackle crime against women and children is to put perpetrators behind bars as educating them would not solve the problem.
“Rise of crime against women cannot be tackled by educating men because they are not capable of education on this issue,” said Gonsalves, who is the founder and director of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), on the sidelines of a state-level consultation on human rights in the city on Saturday.
The programme was organised by HRLN in collaboration with Shillong Law College.
The rights activist criticised police for their laxity in investigating cases of crime against women, harassing victims, sabotaging prosecution and helping the accused.
He said in all states of India, including Meghalaya that has recently seen a spurt in cases of rape, “police are not the solution but the problem”.
In this context, he said HRLN is training young lawyers to fight for women in criminal courts, high courts and the Supreme Court.
Meghalaya has recorded 23 rape and gang rape cases in many districts, the highest being in Ri Bhoi, in less than two months this year. Last year, the rape and trafficking of a 14-year-old girl shocked the State as prominent names in the political fraternity also cropped up in connection with the case.
However, many cases are pending in various courts and the rate of conviction also remains abysmally low. Several NGOs in Meghalaya have time and again stressed on proper investigation by police so that rapists could be punished at the earliest.
There has been a demand to set up special courts in Meghalaya to deal with crime against women and the matter is pending with the High Court after it was taken up by the Law Department.
Talking about women’s safety and law pertaining to such cases, Gonsalves said people should be aware how to use legal aid instead of relying on public.
