From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Feb 28: Persons convicted in rape and sexual assault cases are in for abolition of their voting rights and even suspension of voting rights during trial, if a recommendation of the Karnataka Legislature Committee on Women and Child Safety is accepted.

The legislature committee headed by Senior Congress MLC V.S. Ugrappa, in its final report, has recommended suspension of voting rights during trial and abolition of voting rights of persons convicted in rape and sexual assault cases.

The committee, which was set up in 2014, in its voluminous 3,000 page report finalised its report on Wednesday.

The mega report to be submitted to the government has harsh recommendations for all those facing trial and convicted in rape and other sexual assault cases.

In case of failure to pay compensation to the victim, the panel recommended handing over of the property of the accused to the victim.

Ugrappa, who spoke to reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday, said the committee toured all 30 districts and heard grievances of hundreds of different type of cases, including sexual abuse, acid attack, atrocities on women belonged to vulnerable sections of the society.

He said the committee recommended keeping in abeyance all government facilities/benefits during trial and abolition of availing such facilities/benefits under various schemes to convicted persons.

The committee noted that facilities were not provided to victims under various government schemes.

Nirbhaya Fund’s utilisation poor

The much-hyped Nirbhaya Fund has not been utilised effectively despite the tall claims by the State government on women’s safety and welfare.

The committee held 134 meetings during the last four years and found that most of the rape and sexual abuse cases were reported in poor families belonged to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe while dowry cases were found in middle class and upper middle class families.

The panel members suggested to the State Government to recommend to the Centre to formulate a national policy on women and child safety for increased conviction rate in the country.

The Centre should come out with a policy to suspension/abolition of voting rights to convicted persons, Ugrappa explained.

Conviction rate better than national average

The present conviction rate in the State was just 4-5% against the national average of 2.8%.

Though the situation is better in the State when compared to the national average, Ugrappa felt much more needed to be done if the safety and security of women was to be assured.

The panel, which had submitted its interim report on December 30, 2015, held managements of educational institutions responsible for atrocities against women and children in their premises besides directing government departments that monitor them.

With regard to malicious prosecution/fake cases, the committee recommended recovery of compensation amount along with rate of interest.

The committee has covered all sections of women in the community, including devadasis and transgenders.