Bengal lags in rape case conviction
NEW DELHI: West Bengal has one of the worst conviction rates in rape cases in this country - a measly 11.5%, the second lowest in the country after Andhra Pradesh whose conviction rate was just 11% in 2010-11.
This has come to the light after the Rape Map of India was published recently by a news blog run jointly by the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones newswire.
According to the figures, verdict against 15,423 cases were given in 2011. There were convictions in 4072 cases and acquittals in 11, 351. In Bengal, there were 2363 reported cases in the same period but conviction was achieved only in 237 cases. In comparison to the national average of 26.4%, the 11.5% in Bengal is abysmally low. The same report also said in between 2009 and 2011, a total of 7,010 rape cases were registered in Bengal, but only 381 people could be convicted. Surprisingly, the state was at par with the national conviction rate of 44.28% in 1973 and 36.83% in 1983 before starting to slip in the nineties and the first decade of 21st century.
In comparison, even in Uttar Pradesh - considered to be one of the most crime-prone states - 5364 cases of rape were registered during the three year period and 3816 persons were convicted for the crime. A total of 5,052 rape cases were registered in Assam during 2009-11, but only 517 persons could be convicted. Manipur is one state which achieved 100% conviction rate in 2011, with 53 reported cases in the state. Nearly 68,000 rape cases were registered across the country during 2009-11, but only 16,000 rapists were sent to prison.
"The poor rate of conviction is primarily due to prosecution's inability to gather enough evidence against the accused following inadequate police investigation," a home ministry official said. A Kolkata Police official though said: maintained the courts, too, need to shoulder some responsibility. share part of the blame.
"Unless, we have dedicated fast track courts, the problem will remain,'' said the official who refused to be named.
The same report, though, has painted a better picture for Bengal as far as the propensity of the crime is concerned. While in Mizoram, the number of reported cases per 1, 00,000 women is as high as 14.3 and in Delhi it is 7.4, in Bengal it is 5.3, indicating the state is still comparatively safer than other cities in the country.
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