TURA: The Mothers’ Union on Wednesday handed over a memorandum to Tura Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh to be forwarded to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, following a rally organised by the union to vent anger against increasing number of incidents if crimes against women and children as well as moral policing which were circulated in social medias recently on several occasions.
A copy of the memorandum would also be forwarded to the state Home Minister, James K Sangma, Health Minister A L Hek including, the deputy commissioners of all five Garo Hills districts.
Earlier, before the start of the rally at Chandmary Playground, Secretary of the union, Sume C B Sangma read out the contents of the memorandum to the gathering following which, thousands of people comprising of men, women and students from different schools and colleges marched from the venue to the deputy commissioner’s office, shouting slogans of ‘We want Justice’ before handing over the memo.
“We are here to display our anger and dissatisfaction at the manner in which the lives of women and children have been undermined by these hooligans, rapists, sexists and racists, who are terrorising them with beastly acts that shame their modesty and take their innocence away,” the memo submitted to the DC read.
“A physical attack against women by way of moral policing promotes a culture of violence that endangers women and children everywhere. This culture if it is not nipped in the bud will send the message that it is okay to trivialize rape, threaten them with physical abuse, and to sexually harass them in public places,” it added.
Calling on politicians, police, Courts and public representatives not to turn a blind eye to these happenings, the union demanded that the government deal with the issue rigorously by ensuring that existing legislations are implemented professionally and efficiently, in accordance with the rule of law to ensure that no offender gets away due to legal irregularities.
The union also called for revamping of the women police cells in all districts with adequate infrastructure, equipped with transportation, communication, audio visual equipment and forensic kits.
It raised the need for more forensically trained doctors to take charge of cases of medico legal nature and that newly appointed medical doctors are sensitized and familiarized in the sensitive issue to avoid pitfalls in performing their duties.
It called for the framing of protocols and guidelines for proper forensic medical examination and collection of evidence for all medical officers and the setting up of special courts and judges for POCSO and Violence against Women and Children (VAWC).
The union sought the organization of development programmes with inclusion of gender sensitivity training, women’s health centers etc., gender sensitization for both men and women, young and old to educate them about human rights, women’s rights and gender issues and the roles they play in ending discrimination.
The women’s body also sought that perpetrators of such crimes should also be made to undergo rehabilitation to prevent them from falling into a cyclical pattern of abuse.