Evidence lost in long trials: SP

SHILLONG: The outgoing police chief of East Khasi Hills, M. Kharkrang, said on Thursday there was a need to set up special courts to try cases of crime against women as evidences get lost during long trials.
Kharkrang’s remark comes at a time when the State Government is facing criticisms for the abysmally low rate of conviction in cases of crime against children and women. The State has special courts for POCSO cases.
The police chief said trials, especially in the District Council Courts, often take a long time. “If one has to depose before the Court after 10-15 years, then the person will forget almost everything and it does affect the case,” he said.
Kharkrang also stressed on the need to expedite the process of setting up a directorate of prosecution.
According to a notification on April 15, 2008, the Meghalaya Governor had approved setting up of the Directorate of Prosecution.
Later, there were differences of opinion on whether the directorate should be under the Law Department or the Home (Police).
However, the State Government last year assured the High Court of Meghalaya that it would make efforts to have a proper Directorate of Prosecution at the earliest.
Asked if shoddy investigation was one of the factors for low conviction rate, Kharkrang said there should be immediate outcome of the trials and if there are lapses in investigation, police can correct itself.
Meghalaya Police statistics show that in 2014, the overall conviction rate in the State was 6.3 per cent with 254 convictions in 3,983 cognizable crimes. The rate increased to 9.5 per cent in 2015 with 420 convictions in 4,406 cognizable crimes.