Andhra Pradesh govt appoints two women officers to implement Disha Act

The AP government has appointed two women officers for the implementation of the Disha Act that was cleared in the State last month. The Act calls for tougher punishment for accused in cases of assault on women and children and includes a provision to give a death sentence to the accused within 21 days.

Indian Police Service (IPS) officer M Deepika and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Dr. Kritika Shukla and were appointed as Special Officers on Thursday for implementing the law. Dr. Kritika Shukla is currently serving as the Director of Women Development and Child Welfare while M Deepika is the Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration) of Kurnool. Both the officers have been given the additional responsibility of implementing the Disha Act in AP.

The Disha Act was cleared in AP on December 13, two weeks after a young woman’s gang rape and murder in Hyderabad. Social media campaigns and police addressed the victim as “Disha” which became the name of the Act. Four men accused in the Hyderabad rape and murder case were gunned down by the police on December 6. The police claimed that the four tried to attack the policemen during a crime scene reconstruction exercise.

The Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Act states that quick trial and judgment must be conducted in cases of rape and acid attacks against women and children where there is definitive conclusive against the accused. The Act rules that trial in such cases needs to be completed within 14 days and the verdict must be pronounced within 21 days. The appeal period has also been cut short to 45 days from six months.

Earlier, the punishment for rape offenders was a sentence for a fixed jail term leading to life imprisonment or a death sentence. The new law includes an exclusive death penalty for rape crimes in which “adequate conclusive evidence” is presented in court.

The State government will set up special courts in all 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh to deal with cases of offences against women and children including acid attacks, rape, and social media harassment.