From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Assam will soon have fast-track courts to deal with cases of crimes against women.
State chief minister and finance minister Tarun Gogoi in the state budget presented on Monday for 2013-14 has earmarked a sum of Rs 5 crore to create a special fund to provide rehabilitation to victims of such crimes in the new financial year.
“Of late we have noticed an escalation of violence against women and abuse of children. I have already sanctioned additional posts of women police to strengthen women police cells. I assure the House that crimes against women and children will be dealt with very severely. I am contemplating to set up a mechanism for free legal aid to such victims and establish fast-track courts to try such cases,” Gogoi in his budget speech said.
The chief minister said the state social welfare department would be the nodal agency in charge of the special fund of Rs 5 crore aimed at rehabilitating victims of crime against women.
Gogoi also said that while 14 anti-trafficking units were set up last year, the state government would raise the number of police stations with women cells from the existing 30 to 60 in the new financial year.
As many as 184 posts of women police personnel have been already sanctioned to man the new women cells.
Last year Assam Police had set up a special Veerangana Company comprising women commando to deal with the rising incidents of crime against women in the state.
Assam incidentally has one of the highest rates of crimes against women in the entire country with the National Crime Records Bureau’s “Crimes in India 2011” report saying the state stood second highest in the country with a crime rate of 36.9 per cent during 2011.
According to figures tabled in the state assembly on Monday , Assam had registered 33,198 cases of atrocities on women between 2001 and 2011.