The conviction of the criminal in the 2010 crime case by the Session Court Thoubal district has been appreciated and acknowledged even though it took a decade to convict the criminal, the Women Action for Development (WAD) stated on Tuesday.
WAD stated its appeal to the court in a release for awarding stringent punishment befitting the crime committed by the culprit, Irom Chaoren, 40, son of I Biren of Thoubal Leishangthem Khong Manung, against the victim woman who was three-month pregnant.
The woman was found dead in Imphal river bed near Chongtham Kona Litan Makhong in Imphal east district on June 27, 2010, after she had gone missing for about 10 days, the release added.
WAD stated that justice has not been delivered to various heinous cases since the last 20 years; many of the victims and family members committed suicide, suffered mental illness like trauma, depression etc. which in turn affects the growth and development of the state.
There are a total number of 511 pending cases of crime against women (only reported) from the year 2010 to November 30, 2020, and they are: Murder- 173, Rape and Murder- 32, Suicide- 150, suspicious death- 107, Burnt to death-11, Delivery death-30, Death on medical negligence- 8, it further stated.
WAD requested the Police department, the court and the legislatures for enhancement of criminal justice delivery system with sincere contributions from the departments concerned to take the cases of crime against women seriously and help reduce such types of heinous crimes in the future.
WAD appealed to the honourable court to carry out the pending cases in a time period so that the witnesses do not turn hostile. It also appealed to the police department to properly investigate the cases in time and the timely submission of the chart sheet.
It further appealed to the forensic department to carry out post mortems on time before the body starts decomposing. The Home department needs to take initiatives to train the Investigating Officers (IO) every now and then in dealing with criminal cases of crime against women and children, in order to improve the justice speedily, it stated.
WAD also sought the appointment of an independent prosecution director so that the trial process could be resumed without delay. Rigid principles of punishments that are acceptably fit to be given to the culprits are needed, it stated. It also requested the court to take initiatives to deliver justice as soon as possible for the mentioned 511 cases, it added.
