Over 1,000 rape cases pending in Bihar courts

Over 1,000 cases of rape and sexual assault are pending in different courts of Bihar.

Besides, about 300 such cases, including 35 in Patna and 15 in Nalanda, are pending at police station level as the police have failed to file chargesheets.

According to the data released by the Centre, today there are approximately 40,000 cases of sexual assault and rape pending before courts across the country - cases which have dragged on for eight or nine years.

Most of the accused are out on bail and have little reason to believe they will ever face serious punishment for their crimes.

In Patna courts, out of over 20,000 cases under different Sections of CrPC pending in the Danapur, Patna City, Barh, Masaurhi and Patna civil courts, more than 100 are rape cases.

Officials of the state police headquarters said there were no fast track courts (FTCs) in the state to deal with such cases.

There are only special vigilance courts and CBI courts to deal with graft and DA cases. The Bihar government has already sent a proposal to the Centre for setting up FTCs for rape and economic offences but the final sanction is still awaited.

Therefore, the state government is trying to set up FTCs out of its own resources.

According to Patna police records, altogether 45 rape cases were registered in the state capital in the current year whereas chargesheets filed in only 10 cases.

Over 250 cases related to abduction of women/girls are pending with different police stations of Patna as chargesheets have not been filed and in several cases even proper evidence has not been collected.

In 2012, as many as 823 cases of rape were reported in the state till October. The number of such cases stands at 10,288 since 2001.

Shashi Kant Yadav, an advocate at the civil court, said the huge pendency of those cases points to a directionless probe and a lackadaisical approach of the police in such cases.

Aditya Singh, an advocate at the Patna high court, also blamed the police for wrecking rape cases with poor investigation.

Investigators take a long time in collecting medical and other evidence.

Chargesheets that run into bundles of pages also create problem in early disposal of cases,h he said adding that for speedy trial chargesheets should be filed via email and the police must make efforts to use modern technology in such cases.

However, a senior police official of the state police headquarters said trial suffered on several occasions because of delay in getting the medical examination report of the victim from the Forensic Science Laboratory.