Situation going from bad to worse: SC on rape cases

NEW DELHI: The huge spurt in rape incidents across the country, including the Mumbai photo-journalist gangrape, today drew strong concerns from the Supreme Court which said that the situation is "going from bad to worse".

"What is wrong with the system? Why are 90 per cent of rape cases ending in acquittals? The situation is going from bad to worse," a bench comprising justices R M Lodha and Madan B Lokur said.

"Why is it (rape) happening again and again? That too, more so in metropolitan cities," the bench observed while directing all state governments and union territories to urgently come out with a relief and rehabilitation scheme for victims.

The bench said the scheme should take care of education of school-going girls, their accommodation, compensation and protection of victims and witnesses.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the father of a 15-year-old Haryana school girl who was gangraped by three persons in 2012 and her mother was killed for not withdrawing the complaint.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the victim's father, submitted that the sufferings of the scheduled caste family did not end here as the principal of the school did not allow the girl to pursue her studies.

Further, he said the state government provided security to the family on the condition that the travel and food expenses of the security personnel would be borne out by them.

During the hearing, the bench asked Gonsalves to amend the petition into public interest litigation (PIL) by including all states and union territories as respondents, who were asked to file their response within two months on the rehabilitation scheme.

The August 22 gangrape of the 22-year-old photo-journalist in Mumbai who had gone out with a male colleague for taking photographs for her magazine has triggered nation-wide protests.