SHILLONG: Different sections of society including NGOs working for the women and children in the state have decided to approach the Chief Minister and the Home Minister as to why different timelines designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act are not followed in cases of crime against children in the state
The idea came during a dialogue “From Jammu to Laimu – hate crimes, moral policing and violence against women and children organised by Thma U Rangli Juki (TUR) here on Saturday.
TUR member Angela Rangad later said that timelines which have been defined under POCSO for completion of investigation and other things have not been followed in Marvelene Inn case.
In addition, the meeting also opined that the cases of crime against women and children should not be taken to District Council Courts as it became one more level of struggle for the victim even as the participants felt that the cases of crime against women and children should be taken directly to District and Session Court or the fastback courts. and later the upper courts.
The meeting also stressed on the need for the education department to ensure that necessary programmes are rolled out in educational institutions about gender sensitization with proper counseling and safety policies and mechanism for the children.
Earlier, The Shillong Times Editor, Patricia Mukhim while addressing the meeting spoke about the recent incident where a petrol bomb was thrown at her residence. She added that there was too much hate and there should be talks and discussions to sort out any issues.
She also said that a lot of hate crimes had been reported in the country while mentioning that 97 per cent of the hate crimes in the country from 2014 to 2017 had been directed against the Muslims.
According to Mukhim, the cybercrime cell in Meghalaya is not effective even while pointing out that digitalized world is making people crazy.
Stating that those in media who make their views openly are the soft targets, she also underlined the importance of providing a platform to the people to speak up on different issues.
Mantre Passah from (TUR) who spoke about moral Policing and social media said that certain section of IT laws were weak and often misused in the name of free speech and often the target in social media were women and children.
CSWO president, Agnes Kharshiing while speaking in the meeting said that there were many unreported cases of rape in the state itself.
She also lamented many institutions like police and social welfare did not act when it comes to the filing of report for crime against women and children.