Culmination of the tragedy ....... RIP Nirbhaya

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Don’t let Nirbhaya’s fire die

Durgesh Nandan Jha & Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Dec 31, 2012, 01.58AM IST 

People attend cremation of Delhi gang rape victim in Delhi on Sunday.(PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: Her funeral was conducted in near-secrecy and amid tight security, but all of India mourned as the mortal remains of 23-year-old Nirbhaya were cremated at Dwarka early on Sunday morning. The bubbly girl who was the pride and joy of her family could not live to fulfill her fond dreams. But as the protesters who congregated at Jan tar Mantar a few hours later clearly demonstrated, the memory of her courage will never die.

The aircraft bearing her body reached Palam technical area of IGI airport from Singapore at 3.30am. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi arrived immediately. They spent around 30 minutes at the airport consoling the girl's parents. The body reached the family's residence at around 4:30am in an ambulance amid heavy security and a convoy of police vans.

After prayers by relatives, Nirbhaya's body was taken to the Dwarka crematorium at 6:45am in dense fog. The charnel ground had no light and preparations for her funeral were made under torch and flashlights. The girl's emotionally drained mother collapsed and was rushed to hospital, where doctors later described her condition as stable. Nirbhaya's father lit the pyre with chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Union minister RPN Singh and Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta among those in attendance.

The funeral preparations were made in complete secrecy with everyone - from the police, to family members and politicians - told by the home affairs ministry about fears of crowd trouble at the crematorium if information about it leaked. Nevertheless, as the day wore on and people gathered at various places in the capital in protest, youth groups of ABVP, NSUI and AISA clashed with the police at Jantar Mantar.

Deliberations on who would receive the body took place at a Congress core group meeting at the PM's residence late on Saturday evening, during which Sonia was learnt to have expressed her wish to receive the body and meet the grief-stricken family.

The meeting - also attended by home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and RPN Singh - agreed on Sonia's decision and also advised the PM to be there at the airport. Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra, too, were informed about the plan.

Delhi Police was directed to make necessary arrangements and deploy personnel along the entire route from Palam technical area to Mahavir Enclave, where Nirbhaya lived. The lanes to her house were fortified with more than 200 policemen and BSF jawans as early as Saturday night.

A neighbour of the 23-year-old said police deployment in the area had begun at 8pm on Saturday when all the lanes were barricaded.

When the body arrived at the house, people were seen coming in from everywhere, politicians included. Among the first to reach were Vijender Gupta and Mahabal Mishra. Not many were allowed to meet the family members.

Soon the body was taken out and people walked with it for a short distance before it was transferred to an ambulance and taken to Dwarka crematorium. More than 200 people from the neighbourhood where the girl lived joined the family members in mourning and moved in a convoy of vans and cars.

Many people, on hearing about the funeral, even walked to the crematorium. The last rites were performed within an hour of the body reaching the crematorium. Nirbhaya's father looked completely distraught. Nirbhaya's three uncles and her younger brothers were present...................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEyLzEyLzMxI0FyMDAxMDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Damned if we do, damned if we don't ........ but do it Mr minister .... you are there for the people

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Senior cops should be vigilant and accessible: R P N Singh

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Dec 30, 2012, 07.11AM IST 

Minister of state for home, R P N Singh, has assured that the government will seek the harshest punishment for the rapists and murderers of Nirbhaya, who died early on Saturday in a Singapore hospital. Speaking toVishwa Mohan a day before the girl's death, Singh said that the police need to connect with people more for improving law and order in cities 

Whatever happened at India Gate last week has enraged the people who think the government mishandled the entire situation. Don't you think it could have been handled in a better way? 

Whenever you look at something in hindsight , it always seems that it could have been done better. I can understand that it was an emotional outburst of people, especially girls, who feel insecure on the streets of Delhi. This perception was there and we in the government understood that. Ninetynine per cent of the people were demonstrating peacefully. It was in fact the emotion of the city. 

There were all kinds of people there who I can say were leaderless...there was no particular person we could immediately speak to. Unfortunately, some people suddenly started rushing towards Rashtrapati Bhawan, which would not have achieved anything . These are highly sensitive areas. If they had got to Rashtrapati Bhawan, you would have said that the government had failed to stop them. The emotion at that time was blind fury...it was blind rage. 

Wouldn't it have been better for you or other ministers or young Congress leaders to have gone to India Gate and talked to the protesters? 

There was a serious attempt in that direction . In fact, I was meant to go to the protesters that night (last Saturday) to tell them what all the government was doing and also to get their suggestions. It was absolutely clear that I was meant to be going there and make a statement. But when I was about to leave for India Gate, the home ministry — at the highest level — decided that it would not be apt for me to go there because if any untoward incident happened, it would have been disastrous for innocent protesters. Damned if we do, damned if we don't . The ministry had inputs that there were 'elements' (political and criminal) who would deliberately try to create a disturbance. We, therefore, tried to avoid such a situation and decided to reach out to people through the media. 

What prompted police to beat up innocent protesters and journalists? Is there any justification for police brutality? 

Ihave repeatedly apologized for this and I am apologizing again to the people who got hurt in police action. But we should look at the other point of view too. We have to keep things in perspective. There were policemen who also got hurt. They were not beating themselves. Why were stones being pelted? Why was public property— kept there for the Republic Day preparations — burnt down? I am not blaming the people. I still insist that a large number of people were protesting against the barbaric incident (Nirbhaya's gang rape) that happened on December 16. But the issue got lost (due to violence). I would say there was disconnect between what we were doing and what they were there for. 

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit wanted action against policemen at the highest level, including transfer of the police commissioner. Doesn't this show disconnect between the city government and the Centre though both are being ruled by Congress/Congress-led UPA? 

I can feel Sheila Dikshit's sense of angst. If something wrong of that magnitude happens , everyone looks at her and asks why she couldn't do anything. But one should keep in mind that she is the chief minister of Delhi and Delhi Police is not directly under her government. When people demand action against policemen...what can she do? She cannot be a mute spectator. I can understand the anxious moments she has spent. We have already taken action against a few policemen. The inquiry is going on. We will take strict action against anyone who is found wanting (in preventing the incident or mishandling the investigation). 

What steps will the government/police take to make our cities safer? 

The government has already taken a couple of steps (setting up a helpline number, increased police patrolling, creating a directory of convicted sexual offenders, etc). I would also request people to turn their emotion into rationality and give their suggestions to both the Justice J S Verma Committee (constituted to give recommendations on amending laws to provide speedier justice and enhanced punishment in sexual assault cases) and Mehra Commission of Inquiry (into the Delhi gang rape). We will certainly implement their recommendations in a time-bound manner. Besides, I would suggest senior police officers to remain vigilant — try to connect with people. Senior police officers should be accessible to people and get their feedback. If you stay connected , you will automatically improve the situation.......................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEyLzEyLzMwI0FyMDIwMDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Politics over the NCTC continues ...... Mamata, Jaya, Maya, Sushma .....

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Jaya warns PM against setting up of NCTC through back door

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Dec 29, 2012, 05.55AM IST 

Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa on Friday cautioned PM Manmohan Singh against setting up of NCTC through back door. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: A day after walking out of the NDC meet accusing the Centre of treating CMs as "school children", Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa on Friday cautioned PM Manmohan Singh against setting up of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) through back door. The home ministry, which is the prime mover of the anti-terror body, however, maintained that it was not rushing through it, and would certainly take into account the states' concerns. 

Summarily rejecting the concept of the NCTC having operational powers of arrest, search and seizure in terror-related cases anywhere in the country, Jayalalithaa wrote a letter to the PM questioning him the justification for renewed move to set up the central anti-terror body when several CMs were still opposed to it. 

Though Jayalalithaa in her letter to the PM only reiterated her previous stand against the NCTC, the timing of flagging up the issue indicates upping the ante on her anti-Congress and anti-Centre stand. 

Expanding on her Thursday's remarks after walking out of the NDC meet when she alleged that the Centre's "arrogance and intolerance" had grown to "exceedingly extreme limit", the TN chief minister said any move on the anti-terror body was "yet another instance of Centre falling in its own commitment to consult states before taking a decision on the NCTC". 

She said, "It is akin to the treatment meted out to me at the NDC on Thursday". The AIADMK supremo referred to "reliable sources", while pointing out that the home ministry has again made a bid to set up the anti-terror body. 

Officials in the home ministry said that there was no progress in this ever since Sushilkumar Shinde has become the home minister as he first wanted to consult all the CMs individually before giving his nod for its operationalization. 

The ministry, which had issued NCTC's notification in February, put its operationalization on hold after almost all the non-Congress CMs objected to the anti-terror body in May. The CMs had said the central body with such powers will hurt the federal structure of the country. Some of the CMs had also objected to the move of keeping NCTC under the Intelligence Bureau (IB). 

Later, the ministry had tried to push it by keeping the central anti-terror body out of the ambit of the IB in July. It also re-phrased certain 'words' used in the original notification regarding its powers (arrest, search and seizures) given to the body, clarifying that the mandate, including conduct of operations, would be used only when there is an urgency under extraordinary circumstances. 

Jayalalithaa in her letter said that the action in the form of counter-terrorist operations was better left to the state police to perform. She emphasized that the present system of a Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) in Delhi interacting with the subsidiary MACs at the level of states was considered to be working well. 

The TN CM suggested that a Rapid Action Counter-Terrorist Force should be created in every state to function under the nodal state agency with liberal central funds.................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQ0gvMjAxMi8xMi8yOSNBcjAxNDAw&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Capital Punishment .... it will generate more heat in coming years .... a big question before law makers and human rights activists

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Panel asks hard questions, govt grilled on past rapes

Vishwa Mohan & Raj Shekhar,TNN | Dec 28, 2012, 01.21AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Amid the rising chorus to make rape an offence punishable by death in the wake of the Nirbhaya case, a parliamentary panel on Thursday grilled the government about the justification for commuting capital punishment for five rapists who murdered their victims to life. 

Meanwhile, Delhi Police has decided to increase the number of women - mainly constables - on the ground instead of merely appending their numbers after Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar met the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs which pointed out the lack of women in the lowest constabulary. At present, there are only 4,809 women officers in the lower division of the force with just one SHO. 

Questioning the decisions, taken in the past couple of years, the panel asked the government to present a response at its next meeting on January 4. The death penalties of all five convicted rapists were commuted by former President Pratibha Patil during 2010-12 while responding to their respective mercy petitions and the panel has posed questions to law and home ministries. The panel asked officers to seek a response from the President House as well, if required. The standing committee headed by BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu also grilled city police commissioner Kumar over the December 16 gang rape incident and took note of the police role in mishandling the anti-rape protests. Union home secretary RK Singh was also summoned by the panel but could not make it due to illness. 

Regarding the weak presence of women cops at the ground level, a top police source said, "We have been trying to induct more women in the force. But it is high time we put them on ground duty. Our new recruits are now being imparted commando training and there is no reason why they cannot take up outdoor assignments. We will depute them in areas where women frequent more as their visibility is a major demand." Police plan to recruit at least 20 per cent women starting from the next round of recruitments. It is believed that commissioner Kumar will again discuss this issue with the committee when he meets them next on January 4. The cops hope to increase the number of women in the force to 6,500 in the next two years. Despite regular presence of women officers in several cities across the country, Delhi Police is way behind. Of the 161 district police stations in Delhi, only Maurice Nagar police station in North campus has a woman station house officer. Women cops are not often given patrolling duties and are engaged in clerical or routine jobs, say sources. As of now, there are 72 women inspectors in the force but the only important posts they occupy are in the Women's Cell or Metro and railway station. 

Raising the issue of Presidential pardon to rapists, standing committee members from both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha - irrespective of party affiliations - wondered how even the rapist-murderers got a reprieve with sentences commuted from death to life imprisonment. They are learnt to have referred to four cases involving five rapists while pitching for the explanation from officers who attended the meeting. These include cases of UP's Bantu who was convicted of raping and killing a five-year-old girl. His mercy petition was accepted by Patil on June, 2012. 

Among others whose death sentences were commuted are Moloi Ram and Santosh Yadav of MP in February 2011, Satish of UP in May 2012 and Dharmender Singh in June 2010. All were convicted for rape-murders. The last such criminal hanged in the country was West Bengal's Dhananjoy Chatterjee in 2004. 

Questioning Kumar over the gang rape incident, the Committee also pointed to deficiencies like large vacancies at different levels, unnecessary deployment of security personnel to protect VIPs and lack of vehicles to patrol streets. 

Kumar is learnt to have informed the panel about the sequence of events of the gang rape incident and said the police control room vans reacted "promptly" after receiving the phone call about the crime. He also told the committee that quick police response helped nab all the six accused. During Kumar's deposition, Congress MP from east Delhi Sandeep Dikshit, who had recently demanded the resignation of Kumar, is understood to have said there was a disconnect between officers and those on the ground.......................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEyLzEyLzI4I0FyMDEyMDE=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom 

Police, policing and politicians ........ no one cares about filling up vacant posts

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Over one-fifth of country’s police force just on paper

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Dec 24, 2012, 04.20AM IST 

The shortage of cops for actual policing is compounded if one takes into account the number of personnel deployed for VIP security.

NEW DELHI: Increasing police footprint is one of the prerequisites to prevent crime but India finds over one-fifth of its sanctioned police force merely on paper, leaving the remaining ones to shuffle between law and order duties, investigation and VIP security at the cost of 'quality' policing. 

All states and Union Territories (UTs) have collectively reported police vacancy of nearly 4.20 lakh against the sanctioned strength of over 20.80 lakh policemen across the country. The gap due to the huge vacancy takes a toll on policing on the ground. 

It also raises a question mark on the sincerity of states and UTs in filling up these vacancies which have been there for years. The matter is raised during all police meets every year but there is hardly any improvement in the actual strength of the force. 

Data compiled by the home ministry shows that the actual strength of the police force in the country as of December 2011 was 16.60 lakh against the sanctioned strength of 20.86 lakh with Uttar Pradesh leading the pack in reporting vacancies. 

Other states which reported huge vacancy include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana and West Bengal. Among UTs, Chandigarh and Delhi too face shortfall. 

The shortage of cops for actual policing is compounded if one takes into account the number of personnel deployed for VIP security. Though latest figures are not available with the ministry as different states have different levels of deployment for security, data for 2010 shows that 16,788 VIPs across the country were guarded by 50,059 police personnel which is 21,761 more than what was actually sanctioned for their security. 

TOI had earlier reported how the vacancy position and excessive deployment of police for VIP security left only one cop for 761 common citizens as against three cops for one VIP. 

Incidentally, Punjab, which reports a vacancy of nearly 8,000 personnel, deployed the maximum 5,410 cops for VIP security followed by 5,001 personnel by Delhi and 3,958 by Andhra Pradesh. 

Excessive deployment for VIP security and the overall shortage due to vacancies has led to an adverse police population ratio (number of policemen per one lakh population) in the country. Though the smaller states have a good ratio, the shortage mainly affects bigger states like UP, Bihar and West Bengal where vacancy position is quite high. 

The highest number of policemen per one lakh population is reported in Andaman & Nicobar Islands (1,064) followed by Mizoram (996) and Manipur (877) while Bihar recorded the worst ratio (65) followed by Dadra & Nagar Haveli (89), West Bengal (92) and UP (94) against 137 at the national level......................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTIvMTIvMjQjQXIwMDcwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom 

December 16 ..... dark night ..... now, politics over the incident to divert attention and calm down agitators

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Sheila Dikshit wants police commissioner to go

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Dec 24, 2012, 02.04AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday gunned for police commissioner Neeraj Kumar's head, seeking his immediate removal besides suspension of some more policemen for dereliction of duty. 

"Dikshit placed her demand to home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and sought fixing of responsibility at senior levels when she met him after holding her Cabinet meeting over the rape incident," a top government source said. 

However, a section within the government ruled out Kumar's removal as it would demoralize the police force which has been trying to defuse the crisis. They, however, did not rule out the possibility of taking action against some senior policemen. 

Dikshit's demand came on a day when several policemen were seriously injured while battling the protestors with a constable in critical condition. 

Asked about Kumar's fate, Dikshit told reporters, "I am not someone who is to take the decision." She, however, emphasized that removing one or two constables would not instill confidence. The highest officer in charge of the area where the incident took place should be held responsible to restore public confidence, she added. 

The police commissioner, on his part, ruled out resigning over the gang rape. "I don't believe in quitting. I am not a quitter," Kumar told a TV channel, emphasizing that he will continue in his job as long as he is asked to. 

Besides demanding Kumar's transfer, Dikshit also sought immediate setting up of fast-track courts to try rape cases with provisions in law even for death penalty in rare cases like the one that shocked the Capital and called for a "serious look" at VIP security deployment in the city, saying it cannot be an "excuse" for not providing security to the common man. 

She said her government would urge the Delhi High Court chief justice for immediate setting up of fast-track courts to try rape cases and to get justice in a time-bound manner. 

The Centre, meanwhile, set up a three-member committee - comprising former Chief Justice of India J S Verma, Justice (retired) Lalita Seth and former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam — to examine the possibility of enhancing punishment for rape and give its recommendation within 30 days. 

The panel will also inquire into how such an incident happened and why it could not be prevented and what measures should be taken in Delhi and the rest of the country to improve the safety of women. It will also look into whether there were any lapses..................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTIvMTIvMjQjQXIwMDcwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

The incident which may bring some much needed changes, thanks to public outrage over cops' insensitivity .... law, policing, awareness and politics ...... December 16 will be talked about for long

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Delhi gang rape: High court slams cops for lapses as home secretary lauds them for cracking case

Vishwa Mohan & Abhinav Garg,TNN | Dec 22, 2012, 01.15AM IST 

Home secretary RK Singh (right) and Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar (centre) at a press conference on the recent gang rape of a girl, at North Block in New Delhi on December 21, 2012. (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: Even as angry Delhiites continued to take to the streets over the gruesome gang rape of a 23-year-old girl and the high court slammed the cops for lapses that had led to Sunday night's incident, Union home secretary RK Singh lauded the Delhi Police for its "outstanding" job in cracking the case. 

Singh's remark appeared completely out of sync with the mood of the city. It came on a day when the high court made its unhappiness known over the police's "evasive" status report in the case and demanded the names of officers on patrol duty on the route taken by the bus in which the gang-rape took place. 

The home secretary was replying to a question on whether the police commissioner should resign taking moral responsibility for lapses that led to the rape. He was addressing a joint press conference with police commissioner Neeraj Kumar. 

Attempting to restore people's faith in the police, Singh assured Delhiites that no 'goondagardi' (rowdiness), 'dadagiri' (bullying) or misbehaviour with women would be tolerated and a "very strict regime" would be put in place to ensure safety of people in the capital which recorded a 17% rise in rape cases in the past year. 

"We will ensure that all necessary action is taken by Delhi Police ... people of Delhi will feel it," Singh said. 

'Furnish case details by January 9' 

A Delhi high court bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw on Friday said the police had submitted an incomplete status report. "We are not convinced," an anguished bench said, adding that the questions it had raised two days ago, when it took suo motu cognizance of the case, "had not been addressed. 

"None of the details we sought have been mentioned. The bus couldn't be detected for 40 long minutes so we asked who were the policemen on duty on the route who manned the barricades and PCR vans? When we had asked specific questions why the report is evasive?" the bench asked Delhi Police counsel Dayan Krishnan and Delhi government sta8nding counsel Najmi Waziri. 

Waziri conceded the status report filed by the cops suffered from absence of details but assured the bench that the "entire bureaucracy is seized of the matter and our primary focus is to investigate the case". "Many things cannot be brought into the public domain at this juncture," Waziri added. 

The court then gave the police till January 9 to furnish details it had sought. To make it a water-tight casethat doesn't get botched up, HC also asked Waziri to ensure forensic examination in the crime be "expeditiously conducted by experts" since in many cases delay in DNA and CFSL reports affects the prosecution case. 

The court's direction came after it learnt that there was no director at the CFSL. "Evidence is lost. They don't accept any sample as there is shortage of chemicals too. If it is so, then please rectify it immediately," the court directed, saying the Delhi government must look into the lack of infrastructure and other facilities at FSL labs.

During the hearing, Meera Bhatia, a woman lawyer assisting the court, raised apprehensions on the quality of medical care being given to the victim at Safdarjung hospital and urged the court to direct that she be transferred to a super-speciality hospital. But the HC refused, saying, "We have already noted in our previous order that the victim, if it is possible, should be shifted to a super-speciality hospital." 

HC had on December 19 taken suo motu cognizance of the gang rape incident and decided to monitor its probe by directing the police to carry a "high standard" investigation and file the chargesheet only after the court's perusal. 

Home secretary R K Singh, at his joint press meet with police commissioner Neeraj Kumar, said the police would file the chargesheet "quickly", seek life imprisonment for the accused and request day-to-day hearing of the case. Asked about the growing demand that the accused should be given death penalty, Singh said police were working as per law and according to the law, life imprisonment was the maximum punishment for rape. 

On the possibility of including death penalty in the law for rape, he said, "We will have to look into the demand ... but there are many jurists and various human rights groups who are demanding abolition of capital punishment in India, though I personally believe there should be death penalty for such crime". 

Singh complimented the Delhi Police for cracking the "blind case" within a very short span of time. 

Times view 

At a time when the entire country is seething with anger at the horrific gang rape of a 23-year-old in a moving bus, it is extremely insensitive of the home secretary and the Delhi Police commissioner to have held such a self-congratulatory press conference. Yes, the investigation into this particular case may have been well conducted, but that is not the point. 

The anger is because something like this happened and happens with alarming regularity. It is prevention that people are demanding, not just efficient investigative work after the event. In any case, why should a competent investigation be something for the top levels of the police and bureaucracy to call a special press conference and brag about?................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTIvMTIvMjIjQXIwMDEwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom