Sex crimes: an open letter

Dear Ms. Gandhi

I am writing to you today to share a few ideas to tackle with the declining state of women in India. I am told you have the most power in India and hence can do something about it. I also hope that since you are a woman,  the recent events have equally horrified, enraged, and disgusted you as they did us. This is simply put, is a good faith letter. It's based on assumption that you are a human because no human will remain unmoved by these events. It also assumes that you give a damn about India unlike most politicians. At least you give a damn about women.

I want to propose a few changes in the way sex crimes are dealt in India. It's not a foolproof plan but in my opinion it is an improvement on a lot of things I have heard so far and is definitely is better than current implied plans.

The first idea is creation of a centrally controlled task force to deal with sex crimes. The idea being since its complete focus would be sex crimes, it will be faster to deal. Also it will help to deal crimes cross state borders and to track when offenders move across states. The cases such as these can be tackled faster and effectively.

Expanding on the last point, the next idea is creation of a publicly available national sex offender registry. Not only will it help keeping track of convicted sex offenders by making it obligatory for them to register with local police station, it can also be an effective way of warning the neighbourhoods where such offenders decide to reside (to be done by local authorities by handing over the flyers in his neighbourhood). I think none of us would knowingly invite such a person in our homes. It will make our families safer from such monster. (I am not sure how many people would like to employ such people. Everyone has a right to know who they are dealing with).

Also knowing the way sex crime cases work in our country, can I also suggest to keep the accused rapists on such a list for 2-5 years even if the victim retracts her statement for whatever reason. We need to keep an eye on such individuals. Two sex crime accusations on same individual should automatically mean a jail sentence, even if victims retract their complaints. 

Lastly, as everyone else is demanding: we need fast track courts to deal with such cases. 

I also want to add that the victim's dress or her personal relationships are not a legal argument and should not be allowed  in the court of law. The constitution of India gives us freedom to wear what we like and have relationship with whomever we want. The same constitution forbids anyone touching us without our permission. So please make it clear to all the courts that it is not legal to consider such personal matters in the proceedings unless, of course, you would like to change the constitution of India.

I will not go into the sentencing of accused since the conviction rate is so low in our country that I do not want to indulge myself with such speculation.

I understand that my blog is new and perhaps will not your attract attention but I still want to put it out there on off chance it might. 

Thanks for your attention,

Yours Sincerely

Its Me

P.S.:  Please note that I have used the word 'sex crime' in this letter. It does not necessarily mean only rape. Sex crimes include sexual assaults which are far more common in India and needs to be dealt with. The Guwahati molestation case is a perfect example of such a case.