Women and girls getting raped left, right and centre: SC

An anguished Supreme Court today said that women and girls are getting raped "left, right and centre" across the country as it cited the National Crime Records Bureau data on four such incidents being reported per day, and stressed that action has to be taken stop such crimes.

The court directed that minor victims of such crimes should not be interviewed, except by the State child rights bodies, as it would have serious impact on their welfare and mental wellbeing, and also asked the print, electronic and social media not to publish or display photos of victims of sexual abuses, even in a blurred or morphed form, in any case across the country.

The apex court termed as "horrific" the case of alleged sexual abuse of girls in an NGO-run shelter home at Muzaffarpur in Bihar and pulled up the state government for funding such institution without verifying its credentials.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development to apprise it about the proposed steps to be taken to prevent sexual abuse of minors in shelter homes across the country.

"What is to be done? Girls and women are getting raped left, right and centre. As per the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data, 38,947 cases of rape were reported in 2016 which mean everyday, four women are raped. These are reported statistics," the bench, also comprising justices Deepak Gupta and K M Joseph, said.

The bench said that the number of reported cases of rape in India was "disconcerting".

The apex court, which has taken cognisance of the Bihar incident following a letter by a Patna-based man, said that minor victims of sexual abuse could only be interviewed by members of National Commission For Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and State Commissions For Protection of Child Rights in presence of trained counsellors.

The bench said that its order would not preclude the investigating agency from conducting probe in this case but made it clear that they would be bound by the direction given by the apex court on August 2.

On August 2, the bench had said that investigation in the Muzaffarpur case be conducted with assistance of professional counsellors or qualified child psychologists appointed in consultation with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) Bangalore, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and AIIMS, Delhi.

During the hearing today, the bench referred to reports about alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a shelter home in Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and girls being sold openly in Madhya Pradesh and observed that as per the NCRB statistics, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were the top two states as far as cases of rapes were concerned.

"This is a matter of great concern. Somebody has to take action to stop such crimes. Somebody has to do it. Every six hours, a women is raped in India," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on August 14.

The top court also pulled up Bihar government for funding the NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur and asked why credentials of the organisation was not verified.

"All this means is that people are paying taxes and people's money are being used for such activities. Can you imagine this?," the bench said, adding, "Why the state allowed it to happen? It seems that money was given by the state to finance such activities."