In the wake of the rampant rape and child abuse cases being reported, the Uttar Pradesh government has on Monday decided to set up 218 fast track courts in the state to deal with such crimes on an urgent basis.
According to an India Today report, the Yogi Adityanath government is planning to set up 144 fast track courts to hear rape cases and 74 courts to hear matters related to crimes against children. These fast track courts will help in expediting trials and disposal of rape cases, including that of minors.
The UP cabinet has already passed the order to set up these fast track courts.
The announcement was made soon after the 23-year-old rape victim was allegedly set ablaze by five men, including two men she had accused of raping her, at Hindu Nagar village in Unnao on November 5.
Read: Unnao case: All you need to know about a ghastly crime born out of a troubled relationship
After assuring to take the case in a fast-track court, Yogi Adityanath led government in Uttar Pradesh had announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh for the family of the Unnao rape victim. Along with this, the UP government has also announced to give a house to the victim’s family under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
Meanwhile, the other facilities which will be provided to the family of the 20-year-old rape survivor, who died on Friday night, after hours of fighting at the Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, will be looked at the local level, said the government.
The law ministry has on November 7 also chalked a comprehensive plan to clear the backlog of pending rape and POCSO Act cases within a year. The central government would contribute Rs 474 crore to set up these fast track courts to address this grave menace of sexual depravity.
The law ministry plans to dispose of 1,66,882 pending rape and POCSO Act cases within a year by setting up 1023 Fast-Track Courts across the country.
Further, the government has asked each High Court and state to convey their willingness to be a part of the scheme by December 31. Several states are already running FTCs for trials of POCSO Act cases. The government is also likely to suggest a similar Fast Track Court scheme under the 15th Finance Commission (2020-2025).
According to the data accumulated by the ministry, there are about 389 districts across the country where the pending POCSO Act cases exceed more than 100. In compliance with the Supreme Court directive, the government has ordered to set up Fast Track Courts in such districts.
The FTC trials will be monitored quarterly by the department of justice under the law ministry and each of these FTCs will be connected to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) that updates the status of the cases on a daily basis.