Stung by criticism, govt begins to act

Having come under severe criticism over the rape of children in schools, the State government has decided to take a slew of measures such as setting up of fast track courts to deal with rape cases, conducting awareness campaigns and bringing ‘high-fi schools,’ which are out of its purview, under the Karnataka Police Act (KPA).

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and attended by Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, Bangalore Police Commissioner M N Reddi and other senior administrative and police officers.

Later addressing reporters, Siddaramaiah said the government will consult the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka for speeding up the process of setting up the fast track courts to deal with rape cases.

As the Education department does not have any say in some prominent schools following CBSE and ICSE syllabus, the government has decided to bring them under the ambit of KPA.

“The government will fix liability on the administrative committee of the school. It is the duty of the committee to oversee the employees too. If they fail in their duty, they will also be booked under KPA,” said Siddaramaiah.

This apart, the government has directed the police department to intensify patrolling in and around schools during the school hours to instil fear among perverts.

Cases like child molestation will be probed by officers of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police, who should finish the probe at the earliest and file charge sheet. The government has also issued directions to all the schools, including government schools, to instal Close Circuit TV cameras.

‘Don't hype rape cases’

Siddaramaiah has appealed to the media not to hype the rape cases.“Sensationalising such cases will only arouse perverts, who are worse than beasts. In the interest of the society, I appeal to the media not to blow such cases out of proportion,” Siddaramaiah said.