The Hindu : Karnataka / Gulbarga News : Laws must be strengthened to stop crimes against women: Judge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 20, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Gulbarga

Laws must be strengthened to stop crimes against women: Judge

By Our Special Correspondent

GULBARGA, DEC. 19. The Karnataka High Court Judge H.G. Ramesh said here today that the existing laws to had to be strengthened to bring down the incidence of atrocities on women.

He also said that cases of crimes against women should be disposed of quickly to enable better conviction rates.

Inaugurating the one-day Regional Conference of the Karnataka Federation of Women Lawyers and Women Lawyers of the Gulbarga Bar Association, Mr. Ramesh referred to the low crime rate, particularly those relating to atrocities against women, in Arab countries and attributed this to the stringent laws and speed with which cases were taken up.

Efforts appreciated

However, in India, crimes against women were on the increase and providing equal status to women was still a distant dream in the country, he said.

He appreciated the efforts of the organisers of the conference for devoting a session to gender sensitisation and pointed out that women's organisations in the country had failed to ensure equal rights to women.

He stressed the need for lawyers, particularly women lawyers, to support the cause of women against whom crimes were committed and ensure that they get justice.

One of the main reasons for the lack of awareness among women about their rights was the high rate of illiteracy among women in the country.

Mr. Ramesh said the representation of women on the Bench was dismally low and the representation of the women in higher courts such as Magistrate Courts, District and Sessions Court and the High Court was less than 1 per cent.

More representation

He said that integrity and commitment are very high among women and it will help if more number of women are given a chance to work in the judicial services. He urged the various Bar associations to take up the case of low representation of women in judicial services and demand higher representation of women on the Bench. The conference should also discuss career prospects and problems faced by women in the Judiciary.

The president of the Karnataka Federation of Women Lawyers, Sheela Anish, said that women lawyers opposed reservation in the appointment of judicial officers to different courts or public prosecutors.

Similar conferences

She said that the federation, which held similar regional conferences in Hassan, Bellary and Shimoga, has decided to hold conferences regularly at the district headquarters to create awareness among women lawyers.

The Principal District and Sessions Judge B.A. Muchandi, and the president of the Gulbarga Bar Association, M.N. Patil, spoke. The chairperson of the conference committee, M. Jhansi Rani welcomed.

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