NE NEWS SERVICE

AHMEDABAD, DECEMBER 3

Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja  on Monday said that the Gujarat Government will request the High Court to shift three minor girl rape cases to fast-track courls and also launch the Nirbhaya scheme for protection of minor girls and women in Ahmedabad.

He said the state government will demand capital punishment for the accused involved in rape of three minor girls in separate incidents recently. The incidents had occurred in Vadodara, Rajkot and Surat last week.

While the accused involved in the Rajkot and Surat incidents have already been arrested, police are looking for the culprits of the Vadodara incident.

Jadeja said the Gujarat government would appoint special public prosecutors as well as prosecuting officers to ensure justice for the victims.

“Accused have been already arrested in Rajkot and Surat cases. Police have formed 25 teams to trace the accused who had raped a 14-year-old girl in Vadodara,” Jadeja told reporters in Gandhinagar.

Jadeja said the maximum penalty for such crimes where victims are minors is death penalty as per amended law.

“Our government will try to ensure that these accused get capital punishment. We will urge the High Court to shift these cases to fast track courts for a speedy trial,” informed the minister.

A 14-year-old girl was raped by two unidentified men November 28 evening when she was sitting with her friend at Navlakhi ground in Vadodara. In Surat, an 11-year-old girl was raped by her 30-year-old step-father November 29. The accused was arrested.

In Rajkot, an eight-year-old girl sleeping in a public park was raped by a 22-year-old man on November 29 night who was arrested later.

Gujarat IPS Officer vents his ire on social media

Gujarat cadre IPS officer Anil Pratham has been shocked over the incidents of rape across the country, and expressed unhappiness over the approach of police on issues pertaining to women’s safety.

Pratham, a 1989 batch officer currently serving as Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) in the state’s women’s cell, took to social media platforms Twitter and Facebook on Sunday to express his concern over such crimes.

“I read three newspapers in the morning. All over India we have news of rape. Gujarat reported 3 rapes in last 48 hours. I share my unhappiness over the approach of stakeholders (also police) on the subject of Women empowerment to bridge gap with citizens,” Pratham tweeted on Sunday.

On his Facebook page, the official said he was shocked, and thought that being the ADGP in women’s cell since 2012, it was his moral and constitutional duty to share his unhappiness over the subject of women empowerment.