145;Enough is enough, set up special courts to try rape cases146;

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat plans to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon to seek the setting up of special courts to try rape...

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat plans to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon to seek the setting up of special courts to try rape cases on a 8216;8216;day-to-day8217;8217; basis.

Heartened by two quick judgments in rape cases by fast track courts in Rajasthan recently, Shekhawat feels the state8217;s model should be replicated across the country.

8216;8216;I am planning to meet the Prime Minister and will strongly urge him to set up special courts all over the country to take up trial in rape cases on a day-to-day basis,8217;8217; Shekhawat told The Indian Express.

8216;8216;The Rajasthan judgments, one delivered in five days and the other in 20 days, have

come as a silver lining on an otherwise dark horizon. Something drastic needs to be done now about rape cases. Enough is enough,8217;8217; he said.

The first of these judgments was on the rape of a seven-month-old in Jaipur district8217;s Kanota on June 12 this year. Medical reports and available evidence established the crime and the court sentenced the rapist8212;a tenant in the victim8217;s house8212;to life imprisonment. The judgment was delivered on July 2.

In the second case, in Jodhpur, a German tourist was raped by an autodriver and his associate on the night of May 11 this year. The court took cognisance of the crime suo motu after reading newspaper reports and the local police filed the chargesheet within 36 hours. Then, the fast track sessions court judge concluded the trial in 20 days8212;on June 1, the two accused were sentenced to life imprisonment.

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8216;8216;I have been told by people in Rajasthan that since these two judgements, no cases of rape have been registered,8217;8217; said Shekhawat. 8216;8216;These are deterrents. It has been said so many times that justice delayed is justice denied. The more the delay the greater the chance of witnesses being bought over. Many get fed up with repeated visits to courts and nothing coming out of it.8217;8217;

Pointing out that there was a move some time ago to disband these courts on the ground that they were costly, the Vice President8212;he will complete three years in office this week8212;said fast track courts should actually be strengthened 8216;8216;in every possible way8217;8217;.