Existing laws strong enough to tackle crimes against women: Centre to Mamata Banerjee
The comment came in response to the second letter Banerjee sent to the prime minister seeking ‘stringent central legislation’ against rape.
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The Centre on Friday told West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the existing laws were comprehensive and stringent enough to tackle crimes against women and urged her state government to enforce it in “letter and spirit”.
In a letter to Banerjee, Annapurna Devi, the Union women and child development minister, said that the West Bengal government was yet to operationalise an additional 11 fast-track special courts “in spite of the pendency of 48,600 rape and POCSO [Protection of Children from Sexual Offences] cases”.
The Centre’s comments came after the second letter Banerjee sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day earlier, seeking “stringent central legislation” with “exemplary punishment” for rape. The Trinamool Congress chief had said that she was yet to receive a reply from Modi on the “sensitive” matter.
Banerjee first wrote to the prime minister on August 22 on the “regular and increasing occurrence of rape cases throughout the country” in light of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead at the medical institute on August 9. The incident sparked protests across the country.
Earlier this week, in her first response to Banerjee, Devi had criticised the state government for its alleged failure to implement crucial safety measures for women.
On Friday, Devi...
