At a review meeting held by Chief Minister Jagan, it was revealed that trial has been completed in 74 of these cases, and death penalty was given in three cases.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy held a review meeting on the enforcement of the Disha Act on Thursday. The state legislation, which seeks to have more stringent punishment in cases of violence against women, is pending approval from the Centre. However, according to officials, 390 cases have already been registered in the state under the Act.
The state government has been implementing several measures in the name of Disha to address sexual violence against women, in memory of the veterinary doctor who was gang-raped and murdered in Telangana in 2019. The woman, who has been called by the pseudonym Disha in the media, was brutally raped and killed in the outskirts of Hyderabad. Four suspects in the case were arrested, and were eventually killed in an encounter by the Telangana police.
The Disha Act, or the Andhra Pradesh Disha Act Criminal Law (AP Amendment) Act, 2019, amends the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to speed up the investigation and trial in cases of sexual offences, and hand out the death penalty in cases with adequate, conclusive evidence.
At the review meeting with the Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney and Director General of Police Gautam Sawang, CM Jagan reportedly discussed the status of setting up of special courts under the new law. Authorities have said that across the 13 districts of the state, 11 special public prosecutors have been appointed to deal with cases under the Disha law, and eight public prosecutors have been appointed to deal with cases under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.
Apart from special courts and police stations, additional forensic labs and a mobile app for sending SOS alerts to the police were also proposed as part of the law. Eighteen Disha police stations have been established across the state. CM Jagan instructed authorities to set up the additional forensic labs soon. It was also decided that special patrolling under the name of Disha will also begin soon, and 900 scooters have been furnished to police stations for this purpose.
Authorities have also announced the setting up of special kiosks to deal with cyber safety issues, and to get phones and laptops checked for security. Disha help desks will come up at all police stations, to offer psychological counselling as well as legal support, with the help of NGOs.
While the Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to approve the amendment, the Chief Minister has said that meanwhile, the law must be implemented effectively. It has been revealed that 390 cases in total have already been registered under the law. In all these cases, chargesheets were filed within seven days, and conviction has been done in 74 cases, authorities have claimed. Among these, death penalty was given in three cases, life sentence in five cases, and a 20-year sentence in two cases. In five cases, the convicts were sentenced to ten years of imprisonment, in 10 cases the sentence was over seven years long, and in the remaining cases, the sentence was under five years.