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- Issues related to women and women safety.
MHA distributes special kits to states, UTs to help probe sexual assault cases
What to study?
For prelims: components of the kit.
For mains: sexual assault cases- numbers, concerns, challenges and significance of kits, other measures needed.
Context: Ministry of Home Affairs has distributed special kits to carry out immediate investigations into sexual assault cases. The Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits or ‘rape investigation kits’ are designed to carry out immediate medico-legal investigation.
Components and significance of the kits:
- Each of these kits comprises essential items that will aid in furnishing evidence such as blood and semen samples in sexual assault and rape cases, thus helping the prosecution to gather evidence against the accused.
- The kit has a set of test tubes and bottles, which mention contents and specifications.
- These kits also contain instructions on collection of evidence from the crime scene. The SAECKs would be sent to the closest laboratory and within two months the results would be out.
- The kits are expected to help law enforcement agencies to ensure effective investigation in a timely manner for better prosecution and convictions in sexual assault cases.
- The kits were procured with financial support under the central government’s ‘Nirbhaya Fund’, which was named after the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim.
Incidents of crime against women rose from 3,29,243 in 2015 to 3,38,954 in 2016.
In 2015, as many as 34,651 cases of rape were registered in the country. The figure increased to 38,947 in 2016, according to the data of the National Crime Records Bureau.
Sources: the Hindu.