Coach-Ram

Written in 2014 after the Nirbhaya incident rocked the nation As the father of a teenage daughter, I was also eagerly awaiting the court verdict on the Nirbhaya case. Every morning when I read the newspaper, I wonder whether the world around us has suddenly become a dangerous place for women. Or has the media decided to follow these incidents more closely and hence we see more crimes against women getting reported?  Crimes against women have been prevalent in every part of India for many years but it needed a Nirbhaya to wake up our lawmakers or a Shakti mills incident for the Government of the day to realize the need for creating a strong deterrent to scare away the perpetrators of these horrific crimes.   And finally it came. The Fast track court had passed the judgement on the Nirbhaya case in a record time of 9 months. The court while pronouncing the judgment said that " It cannot turn a blind eye on the rising cases of sexual assault against women ” and that the inci...

The Juvenile Justice Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in Dec-2015. Some excerpts from the Bill: If a juvenile between 16-18 years commits a heinous crime, he may be tried in a children’s court and not by the juvenile justice board. Moreover, they will be treated as an adult only if the board deems necessary. If the children’s court decides, the juvenile may be further sent to a designated ‘place of safety’ for reformation and rehabilitation. In the unlikely scenario of the failure of rehabilitation and reformations, s/he can be sent to an adult jail after detailed assessment and upon turning 21. Voices in favour of the Bill have lauded it and feel that it is the right step to ensure that the guilty will be punished in accordance to the heinous nature of the crime. The opposing voices however state that this is a regressive step taken under pressure post the events of Dec 16, 2012 and will lead to more children being forced into the world of crime.     ...