NEW DELHI: India has launched its first national register of sex offenders in a bid to stem crimes against women as the country reels from a series of high-profile rape cases.
The database will be accessible only to law enforcement agencies and not to the public, with 440,000 names registered, including those convicted of rape, gang rape, child sex crimes and sexual harassment, according to a home ministry statement.
It will also provide their photos, addresses and fingerprints, without compromising "any individual's privacy".
"The National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO) ... will assist in effectively tracking and investigating cases of sexual offences," the ministry said in the statement late Thursday.
The register comes as a spate of sexual assault cases have rocked the country, which was named the most dangerous in the world for women by experts in a survey published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in June.
Earlier this week, police arrested the principal and four staff members of a boarding school in northern India over the rape of a teenage student.
Police said they detained four male students for the rape, which left the girl pregnant. The school staff are accused of destroying evidence and covering up the crime.
In southern Kerala state, protests and calls grew this week for the arrest of a bishop accused of repeatedly raping a nun over a period of two years.
In August, police in northern Uttar Pradesh state rescued 20 girls and three boys from a home where they were sold for sex.
That raid came just weeks after police rescued nearly 30 girls who were sexually assaulted and tortured at a shelter in Bihar state.
The urgency to establish a sex offenders register gained momentum following nationwide outcry over the rape and murder of a Muslim girl in Jammu and Kashmir state earlier this year.
The accused are currently on trial.
The case prompted the government to approve the death penalty for the rape of girls under 12, and also increase the prison term for the rape of older girls and women.
Despite various measures, India's rape epidemic has shown no sign of dying down. More than 100 cases were reported daily in India in 2016, the latest government data shows.
An op-ed piece in the Hindustan Times newspaper on Friday called the new sex offenders register "timely", but worried the government could overreach and misuse data, and warned it "may tarnish a person's life forever if he is reformed".
Many countries, such as the United States, Britain and South Africa keep a record of people who have been convicted of sexual offences such as pedophilia and rape.
Tweeps: An important move, make this database available to all prospective employers
Social media users were quick to react to the announcement to roll out the first sex offender registry, calling it an important step.
Many felt that the information should be available to prospective employers as well. Tweep @sunandavashisht wrote: “Excellent ... Right step in right direction. Sex offender registry is critical in keeping our children safe, our society safe. Please make it accessible to prospective employers, home owners, schools, colleges.”
Excellent... Right step in right direction. Sex offender registry is critical in keeping our children safe, our society safe. Please make it accessible to prospective employers, home owners, schools, colleges.. https://t.co/LHsfCiznhH
— Sunanda Vashisht (@sunandavashisht) September 20, 2018
Twitter user @NehaSaigal24 stressed on the importance of educating the people concerned on the correct use of the information provided in the registry. She wrote: “An important move that India now has a sex offenders registry. While detailed profile of offenders will support in monitoring, a proper training of users to avoid misuse is important @MinistryWCD” @kabirazad2017 tweeted: “The registry should be linked to @UIDAI Aadhaar. So that every time the offender moves to a new place, job, hotel or applies for anything people should be made aware of their potential threat.”
Facebook user Sanjay Tonk added: “USA already has this kind of a system in many of its counties ... overall positive towards checking offenders intention to commit such crimes, for those who can think/process long term implication.”
Another Facebook user Sanjeev V. Nair wrote: “An important first step but only a partial one at that. Let's hope it's taken to its logical conclusion. Make this database available to all prospective employers and link it to Aadhar.”
However, many others felt that this move would only help the police and courts act swiftly in cases of sexual violence. @PrakashWKamat tweeted: “Simultaneously unless effective and impartial police investigations, filing charge sheets and speedy trials of cases of sexual abuse pending at different levels is ensured, justice to victims of sexual abuse ,especially in cases where accused are influential people, will continue to be a nightmare.”
Mixed response to sex offenders’ registry
By Karuna Madan, Correspondent
New Delhi: The first-of-its-kind National Sex Offenders’ Registry, giving details of some 440,000 people convicted for various sexual offences, has received mixed response from activists across India.
Maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the database launched on Thursday would include offenders convicted on charges of rape, gang rape, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) and harassment. It includes the name, address, photo and fingerprint details of the convict.
“The database is only for those convicted for sexual offences 2005 onwards. What about people convicted before 2005? It should at least contain details of persons convicted for sexual crimes in the last 30 years,” says social activist Minali Dubey.
A Home Ministry statement said the database would not compromise any individual’s privacy. “It is good the government released the database to the tune of 440,000 people convicted for sexual assaults, rapes, molestation etc. No doubt, this may be very useful for law enforcement agencies in the criminal justice system to regress sexual crimes. But care should be taken that it’s not misused, as it may violate fundamental rights of the convicted person as guaranteed by the constitution,” civil rights activist Sanjay Patil said.
Interestingly, the proposal to set up the registry was mooted by Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government after the infamous 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape case. “India has become the ninth country in the world to have such a database. But this is not enough. The convicted person needs to be branded so that identification by sight is possible,” says political commentator and activist Vivek Saksena.
NDSO features
What is the National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO)?
It is a database with 440,000 names registered, including those convicted of rape, gang rape, child sex crimes and sexual harassment. It will provide their photos, addresses and fingerprints, without compromising “any individual’s privacy”
Who can access it?
The database will be accessible only to law enforcement agencies and not to the public.
Do other countries have such a register?
Countries such as the United States, Britain and South Africa, keep a record of people who have been convicted of sexual offences such as pedophilia and rape.
