TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’ Souza on Saturday called for zero-tolerance to crime, especially against women, and ensuring speedy investigation and trial of the accused, whereas the judicial fraternity argued that ‘quick-fix’ solutions are not an answer to rising crime against women.
D’Souza emphasized on the need for improving the political system, wherein politicians interfere in police administration. “Political leaders have soft corner for people belonging to their caste, religion or constituency and hence we try to compromise the issue, thereby disturbing the system,” the minister admitted. D’Souza was addressing a symposium on ‘Women Protection-the Law and Beyond’ organized by V M Salgaocar College of Law in association with Directorate of Women and Child Welfare.
Deputy Chief Minister said that society sensitization is important as far as crime against women is concerned. “Crime is a face of society and criminals are part of it. A change in the mindset could be a solution to the problem,” he said. D’Souza said that Goa is much better off in comparison to other states as far as male-female literacy ratio is concerned.
Speaking during the half-day-long symposium, the panelist and former chief justice (retd) of Allahabad High Court Ferdino I Rebello said “a law (enacted) overnight, a fast track court or quick-fix system is not an answer to crimes against women, especially in a country where women are still considered as a market commodity”.
“It is the mindset, where court or judiciary has no role to play. They can only pass historic judgments that can attract headlines, but cannot reduce crime,” he said.
Justice Rebello spoke on the theme ‘A judicial perspective on the challenges faced by our judicial system and how best they can be addressed”. He also stressed on the need to amend the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act to lower the age bar for defining juveniles, as a number of crimes are committed by persons between the age group of 16 to 18 years.
The State Law Commissioner Narendra Sawaikar was also present on the occasion.
