New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday expressed shame over the shocking attack on a minor girl, who was set on fire by three men in a village in Odisha’s Puri district.
“We are in shame and it is unfortunate that these incidents are still taking place. This is not adversarial litigation. We need suggestions from the centre and all the parties,” PTI news agency quoted the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi.
The apex court called for short-term and long-term directives to ensure immediate action and future prevention, particularly for women in taluka areas.
The Puri incident came close on the heels of the death of a 20-year-old college girl by self-immolation due to alleged sexual harassment by a senior faculty member of FM College in Balasore.
The hearing pertained to an PIL filed in December last year, seeking directions to frame pan-India guidelines for a safe environment for women, children and transpersons.
Senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, appearing for the petitioner Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association, mentioned about a 16-year-old girl who was set ablaze a couple of days ago and similar incidents in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. “How long will this go on? This court needs to pass some directions for the safety of women,” Pawani said.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, outlined steps like installing CCTV cameras with facial recognition in public places to identify sexual offenders and timely actions and establishing one-stop centres in every district for women in distress, but the court insisted these efforts should extend to taluka levels.
Justice Kant said the registry has not put the affidavit of the Centre on record and posted the matter next week.
