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Suggestions to Improve Existing Sexual Offense Law in India

Thank you for the opportunity provided by Justice Verma committee to all the citizens of India to write their views about making sexual assault laws meaningful in light of the heinous crime that was committed on Dec 16th in New Delhi. I strongly feel that making punishment harder and giving wide publicity to such laws will act as deterrent for sexual crimes. As it is said an ounce of prevention is better than a ton of cure and hence I request the committee to deliberate more about prevention of such crimes. Pls. find my suggestions under the following headings

Prevention

Reporting

Investigation

Trial

Punishment

PREVENTION

1.    Providing defense to the defenseless should be the motto of new law

2.    Eve-teasing should be dropped from IPC and should be replaced with the word molestation

3.    Not only rape but any kind of sexual offence to any woman and child be made non bailable offense

4.    The maximum sentence for sexual offense should be death penalty

5.    No sexual offense crime can be punished for less than 20 years without the chance of parole earlier

6.    All person above the age of sixteen should be tried as adult for sexual offense

7.    Every police station in India must have at least one woman police officer at the level of Sub-Inspector and above to co-ordinate the prevention and investigation of sexual offense

8.    Establish a National Sex Offender Database that can be accessed by any Indian national to become aware of such individuals in their vicinity

9.    Sex offenders who are released from jail need to be on parole for the rest of their lives including reporting to their home town police station every month for the rest of their lives

10.A charge sheeted sex offender cannot stand for any public office unless finally acquitted by the courts

11.All persons holding any public office and also accused of sexual harassment should be debarred from making any public policy or vote on any public policy

12.Convicted sex offenders be allowed to appeal only till the Supreme Court and no appeal can be filed after the lapse of 3 month from the last sentence

13.Sex offenders must stay in jail for the entire time of the judicial process including time for appeal

14.Proper police protection to be provided to the victim on request

15.Media must volunteer to keep the names of the victim anonymous unless requested by the victim to the contrary

REPORTING

1.    Provide Internet and mobile access to report crimes of sexual offense so that no one suffers from the humiliation of verbal rape by the authorities. The victims should be able to lodge complaint from the confines of their shelters.

2.    A templatized complaint document needs to be evolved for victims to report the crime in same standardized manner. This templatized document should be available at all government offices and hospitals including its availability on internet

3.    All district and block hospitals in addition to all public/private hospitals which has any in-patient facility should be made nodal points for reporting any sex offence crime including the ability to undergo medical check-up

4.    This will help free-up the police stations from managing such reporting and they can utilize more time in policing and investigations

INVESTIGATION

1.    No investigation officer should be lower in designation than SHO in investigation of sexual offense

2.    Proper training needs to be imparted to all the police officers who qualify to investigate the sexual offense crimes

3.    All police captains must report all sexual assault in their jurisdiction to the leading Newspaper in their area once every quarter

4.    Any lapses or lack of attention to detail during investigation that results in acquittal of the sexual offenders must be severely dealt with including stopping of promotion of the concerned police office for next 5 year

TRIAL

1.    There should be separate fast track court to deal with sexual offense

2.    All trials of sex offense must be over within 90 days

3.    Retired judges of sessions/high/supreme court should be appointed to such fast track courts to assist regular judges for the speedy trial

 PUNISHMENT

1.    Maximum punishment as per the law should be norm rather than exception

2.    Once a convict goes through his punishment, his details needs to be captured in the National Sex Offender database and then remains on parole for life including reporting to home police station once every month

3.    Two strikes (two times found guilty of sexual assault) should make the accused spend rest of his life behind bars, if not jailed for life or awarded death sentence the first time

8th Half Marathon on April 29th 2012

Pleasanton half marathon here in Bay area on April 29th was my 8th half marathon. This was probably the first out of my last 8th that I think I was prepared better than others. However, like in any race, it’s the performance in the race day that counts.

I got up around 5:00 in the morning and was out of my house by 6:00 AM. Had a bagel and banana to keep my stomach occupied during the race. Parked the car in Pleasanton sports park and walked towards the finish line. Surprisingly, it was a little chilly at that time even though the forecast was of a warm day. The atmosphere was quite charged as almost 2000 runners gathered near the finish line.

I kept a target of finishing these 13.1 miles in 2hrs:30mins that I haven’t achieved in my previous races. I gathered behind the 2:30 pacer and thought of following him till the finish. The first 6 miles was a breeze. I was running ahead of the 2:30 pacer and I was feeling strong. The course was very nice and most of the run upto this point was surprisingly away from the Sun.

6-8 miles was through the neighborhoods and there were some people who were cheering the runner. My eyes caught the attention of two little cute girl’s who were encouraging the runner. I am sure someday they will take into running in some way. Good exposure provided by their parents.

9 miles onward we started running on the trail parallel to inter state 880. I was still doing good. At the 10th mile marker, I was still running ahead of the 2:30 pacer. I checked with a runner about the time and he said it was 1hour and 57 minutes since the start. That means I was running better than 5 miles/hour pace. Looks like some strength training for the last couple of months was at last having some positive effect.

However, just before the 12 mile marker, the 2:30 pacer overtook me. The sight of 2:30 pacer overtaking me made me feel go out of my gas and I really struggled between 12 and 13th mile. 12th mile marker was also the entrance of the park from where we started in the morning. I could hear the sound of finish line in the distance but my leg seemed to be giving up by continuously pounding the concrete for the last couple of hours. I gathered all my energies and kept reducing the distance to the finish line, however, my running form was not that great. I knew I was slouching a bit. But once I crossed 13th mile and could see the finish line just ahead of me, I sprinted the last 0.1 mile.

I finished in 2hrs:32mins just 2 minutes above my target of 2hrs:30mins (in hindsight avoiding a restroom break could have helped to meet my target) but what the heck the timing was still my PR almost 12 minutes better than my previous best; I am sure I will reach my target in the next couple of races. I was quite strong after finishing and along with a very nice finisher medal was the best thing about this race. I am sure strength training and the disciplined winter run helped me to come close to my target as well as finish strong. WooooooooHoooooooooo!!!!

In the evening a few family friend showed up for a surprise birthday celebration for Simmi. Enjoyed the surprise piece!!!

न आकार का न प्रकार का, ये प्रश्न है निराकार का

न मंदिरों की घंटियों का
न मस्जिदों के आगाज का
न गिरजाघरों के प्रकाश का
न सोंच के तलवार का
ये प्रश्न है निराकार का

मन है विचित्र सा
खोजता पवित्र सा
न भूखों के आहार का
न शक्ति के प्रहार का
ये प्रश्न है निराकार का

न मन के भ्रम का
न शरीर के श्रम का
न धर्म के प्रचार का
न असत्य के संघार का
ये प्रश्न है निराकार का

न बालक के अबोध का
न अनुभव के प्रबोध का
न अशुद्ध आचार का
न शुद्ध विचार का
ये प्रश्न है निराकार का

सुलग रहा मन है
पूछता प्रश्न है
न जिंदगी के आधार का
न शून्य से साक्षात्कार का
ये प्रश्न है निराकार का

मन की गहराईओं का
दिल की अच्छाईओं का
आत्मा के एहसास का
परमात्मा के प्यास का
पृथ्वी के आधार का
व्योम के विस्तार का
बदलते मौसम का
ढलती रातों का
उगते उजालों का
नीर के प्रपात का
होठों के चाहत का

है संकुचित मेरी लेखनी
और ये प्रश्न निराधार है|
फिर भी मन में हाहाकार है,
इस निराकार का क्या आकार है||

न आकार का न प्रकार का
ये उत्तर है निराकार का

फिर क्यों पिछड़ गया बिहार?

बुद्ध के ज्ञान का स्थान था बिहार,
सनातन धर्म का उद्गम था बिहार|
सीता और श्रीराम के विवाह का साक्षी था बिहार
फिर क्यों पिछड़ गया बिहार?

रामायण की रचना का जनक था बिहार
जैन धर्म का श्रोत था बिहार
गुरु गोविन्द सिंह जी की कर्मभूमि था बिहार
फिर क्यों पिछड़ गया बिहार?

कौटिल्य के राजनीति का पाठशाला था बिहार
आम्रपाली के सौंदर्य से जगमग था बिहार
मेगास्थानिस के आर्याव्रत को समझने का विद्यालय था बिहार
फिर क्यों पिछड़ गया बिहार?

अजातशत्रु के राज्य में शांति का पराकाष्ठा था बिहार
सोन और गंगा के संगम का केंद्र था बिहार
नालंदा के रूप में उच्च शिक्षा का केंद्र था बिहार
फिर क्यों पिछड़ गया बिहार?

आजादी की लड़ाई में गाँधी का शंखनाद था बिहार,
राजेंद्र प्रसाद का जन्म भूमि था बिहार|
जयप्रकाश नारायण के क्रांति का बिगुल था बिहार
फिर क्यों पिछड़ गया बिहार?

दिनकर और बेनीपुरी के कलम का आवाज़ था बिहार
बुद्धिजीवियों का एक मजबूत आधार था बिहार
प्राकृतिक सम्पदा से परिपूर्ण था बिहार
फिर क्यों पिछड़ गया बिहार?

क्या हो गया बिहार को,
सबसे आगे रहना वाला राज्य कैसे पिछड़ गया सबसे|
किसकी नजर लग गयी बिहार को,
क्यों नेताओं ने लूट लिया बिहार को?

परिवर्तन लाना होगा, सिर्फ एक दिन बिहार दिवस नहीं,
हर दिन ये दिवस मनाना होगा|
प्रगति के पथ पर आगे बढ़ने के लिए,
बिहार के सारे सुभ्चिन्तकों को एक साथ आवाज़ उठाना होगा ||

बस बहुत हो गया लूट, विकास का वायदा दो,
तभी हमारा वोट मिलेगा, आइये हम ये प्रण करें|
जात पात से परे हटकर,
समझ-बुझ कर नेताओं का चयन करें ||

आधुनिक बिहार को प्राचीन बिहार की तरह,
अगर गौरवशाली बनाना है|
आज इस बिहार दिवस के मौके पर,
हम सबको ये संकल्प दोहराना है||

We have lost our way; Help us to find one

This is what Arvind Kejriwal (from Team Anna) said to the people of India while requesting the people to provide some direction to the anti graft movement led by Anna and his team. Here are my suggestions:

1. Appoint only one spokesperson for the movement. No one else from Team Anna should express his or her opinion on a public forum that contradicts the spokesperson. The spokesperson must be extra careful to avoid any political speeches.

2. Keep the movement apolitical. Don’t be seen as rallying against one political party as every political parties in India practices rampant corruption.

3. Sometimes silence is golden. Politicians have mastered the art of throwing barbs at you and hope some sticks. Don’t respond to every barb thrown at you. Keep quiet. Do your homework well. Keep building your strategy and hit when it hurts the most. When you decide to go for the hunt, go for the kill.

4. Don’t deviate from the grass root nature of this movement. Appoint a person / team to lead the grass root movement and keep building a pan India structure that is very transparent to which every Indian and especially the rural population can relate to. The movement should not be just seen as middle class fancy. It must permeates to every nook and corner of India for this to be successful

5. Keep media on your side. In a free democracy media has the power to make or break. Use it sensibly to further the interest of the movement and resist the temptation of filling people’s living room by expressing personal opinion

6. Keep Anna in the front as people relate to him

7. Finally, accept to lose the battle to win the war –Celebrate small wins and accept the fact that you may not get all what you want. Publish the list of unfinished demands and slowly build awareness to incrementally chip away on them. Remember, you cannot put a completion time in mass movements. Be prepared for a long drawn out war.

India Against Corruption

I fully and unconditionally support Anna Hazare’s struggle against corruption in India. While living 10,000 miles away from India, there is only some limited way I can show my support but nonetheless, support I extend to this Gandhian and his clarion call for rising against corruption.

India and every Indians are suffering from rampant corruption; right from birth to death, the demon of corruption is eating at the basic fabric of the society. From birth certificate to death certificate, everywhere you need to grease the palm to get your work done. Now, with the advent of internet, no doubt some lower level corruption is getting eliminated as more and more online services are proliferating but an increased level of corruption at the top especially by politicians has brought shame to all Indians across the globe. According to a recent UN report, India appears at the bottom of the list of countries that are honest in their dealings. From CWG scams to 2G scams to other high profiles scam, it is now getting increasing difficult to find how many zeroes are there in such scams, such is the magnitude of money being looted.

The most disturbing side of the loot of public money is that this is being done by the people who are well educated, are in high office, supposed to be the protector of the money, people who are in the top bracket from all possible angles.

Now that a Gandhian, Anna Hazare has infused the war cry to pass the “Jan Lokpal Bill” that if enacted by the parliament will bring a strong law against the graft and will be a big positive step towards arresting this menace.

I have tried to write a few lines and dedicate my compositions to Anna Hazare and India against corruption

देश की एक तिहाई जनता,
अभी भी दाने दाने को मोहताज है|
पर भ्रस्टाचार के मामले में,
हमारा देश बादशाह बेताज है||

कांग्रेस हो या बीजेपी,
लालू हो या जयललिता|
भ्रस्टाचार के सवाल पर,
एक हैं सारे नेता||

भ्रस्टाचार को जड़ से मिटाना है,
नेताओं के लिए ये तो ज़माने को दिखाना है|
देश का सारा पैसा,
स्विस बैंक में लुटाना है||

सफ़ेद को काला और काले को सफ़ेद करना,
भारत के नेताओं की कला है|
जुर्म साबित होने के बावजूद भी,
कानून ने कभी किसी नेता को पकड़ा है?

भ्रस्टाचार को लेकर आज आम आदमी दुखी हो गया है,
जन्म से लेकर मरन तक पैसा खिलने का रिवाज़ पक्का हो गया है|
Birth Ceritificate लेने जाओ तो बाबु कहता है बाद में आना,
पैसे दे दो तो कहता है आज ही लेते जाना||

Death certificate लेने जाओ तो बाबू कहता है,
साहब से समझ लेना, मैं तो फाइल आगे बडवा दूं|
पैसा दो तो मुर्दों का क्या,
जिन्दों का भी Death certificate बनवा दूं||

हर साल बरसात के पहले दिखावे के लिए सड़क बनती है,
और फिर पहली बरसात के बाद टूट जाती है|
कोई सड़क बनाने वाले और बिल पास करने वालों से,
पूछे की उनके घर के रंगों की चमक कहाँ से आती है?

नेताओं से भ्रस्टाचार के बारे में पूछो,
तो कहेंगे नेता तो समाज का आइना है|
हम कहाँ भ्रष्ट है, हम पर तो सिर्फ इल्जाम लगता है,
तो फिर क्यों नेताओं का भ्रस्टाचार पर जन्म सिद्ध अधिकार दीखता है?

राम राज्य से दूर होकर,
भ्रष्ट राज्य हो गए हैं हम|
इस बीमारी को जड़ से मिटने के बजाए,
इस बीमारी को फ़ैलाने में जुट गए हैं हम||

युगों युगों से चली हमारी संस्कृति और परम्पराओं का,
आजादी के ६४ साल में ही हमने त्याग कर दिया|
भ्रस्टाचार में लिप्त नेताओं ने तो,
पुरे देश को ही पीछे धकेल दिया||