West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote a second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, urging his intervention to frame stringent laws to prevent crimes against women. Mamata said the prime minister did not respond to her earlier letter.
In her letter, Banerjee said the response received from the Ministry for Women for her earlier letter was very “generic”. “You may kindly recall my letter No.44-CM dated August 22, 2024 regarding the need for stringent central legislation on incidents of rape and meting out exemplary punishment to perpetrators of such crimes. No reply was received from your end on such a sensitive issue,” she said.
The West Bengal CM said the reply from the Ministry for Women barely attends to the issue’s gravity. “I am of the thought that the seriousness of the subject and its relevance to the society have not been adequately appreciated while sending out this generic reply. Not only so, I would also refer to some of the initiatives in the area that our State has already taken which appears to have been overlooked in the reply,” she said.
The Trinamool Congress supremo said the West Bengal government has granted approval to set up 10 POCSO courts across the state. She added 88 fast-track courts and 62 designated POCSO courts are functioning in the state.
Mamata sought the prime minister’s intervention to amend laws regarding the appointment of judicial officers to fast-track courts. “As per Central Government guidelines, only retired Judicial Officers can be posted as Presiding Officers in FTSCs. But, High Court has observed that in view of the severity of the cases, permanent Judicial Officers need to be posted. This requires examination at the level of the Government of India and suitable action thereafter, for which your intervention would be necessary,” she said.
The West Bengal CM urged Modi to intervene and frame stringent legislation ensuring exemplary punishment for heinous crimes of rape and rape and murder with mandatory provision for disposal of cases within a specific timeframe by the trial authorities.
Mamata has been leading protests demanding stringent punishment for crimes against women to counter protests against her government over the death of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. During a recent party event, Mamata said if the state government had power, it would have ensured capital punishment for the accused within seven days in the case.
“We will pass an amendment to state laws in assembly next week and fix death by hanging to perpetrators of rape. We will send this bill to the governor. If he doesn't pass, we will sit outside Raj Bhavan. This bill must be passed and he cannot evade accountability this time,” the CM had said.
The Calcutta High Court transferred the Kolkata trainee doctor rape and murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation considering lapses in the police’s probe.
