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Patna,(BiharTimes): There are no fast track courts (FTCs) in Bihar to deal with cases of rapes, gang-rapes and other sexual harassment. The Bihar government has sent a proposal to the Centre for setting up FTCs for rape and economic offences but the final sanction is still awaited.
Reports said the state government is trying to set up FTCs out of its own resources.
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According to official figure over 1,000 cases of rape and sexual assault are pending in different courts of Bihar for the last many years. Besides, about 300 such cases, including 35 in Patna and 15 in Nalanda, are pending at police station level as the police have failed to file charge-sheets.
Out of over 20,000 cases under different Sections of CrPC pending in the Danapur, Patna City, Barh, Masaurhi and Patna civil courts, more than 100 are rape cases.
There are only special vigilance courts and CBI courts to deal with graft and DA cases.
Most of the rape accused in the state are out on bail and have little reason to believe they will ever face serious punishment for their crimes.
Patna police records said altogether 45 rape cases were registered in the state capital in the current year. However, charge-sheets have been filed in only 10 cases. In the first 10 months of 2012, as many as 823 cases of rape were reported in the state. The number of such cases stands at 10,288 since 2001.
Over 250 cases related to abduction of women/girls are pending with different police stations of Patna as charge-sheets have not been filed and in several cases even proper evidence has not been collected.
As per the figure released by by the Centre, there are approximately 40,000 cases of sexual assault and rape pending before courts throughout the country. These cases have dragged on for eight or nine years or even more.
Lawyers attribute this delay to directionless probe and a lackadaisical approach of the police in such cases. They also blame the police for destroying rape cases with poor investigation.
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