Assam SCW solves less than 50 pc cases in 10 yrs

Assam State Commission for Women (ASCW) has registered 1,145 cases of various incidents since 2005, of which only less than half have been solved so far.
ASCW Chairperson Meera Barooah, while addressing a press conference said the organisation has disposed 570 cases of different types of atrocities against women in the state during the last 10 years.
She, however, did not give any specific answer on why only 49.78 per cent cases have been solved in these years.
Highest number of cases, 292, were registered between July 2012 and December 2013.
"Of the total registered cases, the number of incidents of domestic violence were highest. In most of the disposed cases, the High Court has upheld our verdict if these have reached to their platform," Barooah said, adding apart from this, cases of witch hunting were also on the rise.

"We are running a project in 14 districts to make the people aware against witch hunting, which is being practised mostly in cases of property dispute. In Kokrajhar, highest number of such cases were registered," she said, adding ASCW has filed 22 suo-moto cases on witch hunting between 2011 and 2013.

Barooah also said ASCW sent a draft Bill to the state government in 2011 on witch hunting as there was no specific act to deal with this problem.
"All the cases of witch hunting are dealt with Section 302 of IPC and other related sections. We want a specific act for this and we had sent the draft in 2011. But the government has not done anything yet," she added.

Besides, Barooah informed that two all-women buses have been introduced in the city by the Transport Department and 10 more would hit the roads by August.
"We have, in fact, demanded that 20 per cent of the total buses of the Transport Department should be made all-women buses," she said.