It is most gratifying and satisfying to learn that from now onwards victims of online sexual abuse can report the same anonymously from their homes without bothering to run from pillar to post and pleading with police to lodge their report! The first-of-its-kind national sex offenders registry was launched on September 20. It was widely reported in many newspapers that this national sex offenders registry has the names and details of some 4.4 lakh people convicted for various sexual offences across the country.

It is beyond a straw of doubt that the real credit for taking this landmark initiative goes to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who took active personal interest in ensuring that a dedicated portal,cybercrime.gov.inis launched at the earliest to receive online complaints pertaining to child pornography, child sexual abuse content and sexually explicit material depicting rape or gang rape. It was pointed out that, "This will not only aid the victims/complainants but also help the civil society organizations and responsible citizens to anonymously report such complaints. The complaints registered through this portal will be handled by police authorities of respective State/UTs. There are other features such as a victim or complainant can track his/her report by opting for 'report and track' option using his/her mobile number." The Home Ministry also operationalised a second portal carrying national database on sexual offenders. It must be clarified here that the sexual offenders registry which already has 4.4 lakh entries of those convicted in cases of rape, gangrape, POCSO, eve-teasing etc, will be accessible only to law enforcement agencies.

It must be brought out here that the database is for those convicted for sexual offences from 2005 onwards. It includes the PAN, Aadhaar, name, address, information of date of birth, criminal history, palm prints photograph, fingerprint details and various other details of the convict. It will only have details of persons who are aged 18 or more.

To be sure, a Home Ministry statement said that the database would not compromise any individual's privacy. In other words, the database will not be open to public viewing, thus protecting the individual's privacy. Whenever the details of a convict are entered into a prison database anywhere in the country, the name will be uploaded to the registry. Appeals against a conviction will have to be updated by state prisons and an accused can be tracked until an acquittal on appeal.

It would be imperative to mention here that India became the ninth country in the world to have a National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO), accessible only to law enforcement agencies for the purpose of "investigation and monitoring". It must also be mentioned here that similar databases of sexual offender are maintained in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago. While the registry in the US is available to the public and communities except data on juveniles, other countries limit access only to law-enforcement agencies. Everywhere, only convicted persons are entered. The US law owes its genesis to a case which involved Jesse Timmendequas who was a convicted sex offender and who on being released after serving the maximum sentence again raped and murdered a 7-year old most brutally!

No wonder, the community members became agitated and then successfully lobbied for the enactment of a law requiring registration and public notification that a sex offender is living in the community, in the belief that this would allow citizens to take protective measures. Again, no wonder that since then we saw how all the US states have passed their respective similar legislation which is collectively referred to as "Megan's Law". This is now being adopted even in other countries as well and even India too is not an exception!

As things stood, the proposal to set up a registry was first mooted by the UPA government after the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case in New Delhi. But it was Rajnath Singh who as Home Minister has pursued it relentlessly and ensured that it becomes a reality for which he certainly deserves all the credit!

While craving for the exclusive indulgence of my esteemed readers, it must be informed here that the 'Cyber Crime Prevention Against Women and Children' (CCPWC) portal is user friendly in that it enables reporting of sexual abuse in cyberspace without the complainant having to reveal his/her identity. The online forum is expected to encourage victims, civil society organizations and concerned citizens to report child pornography, child sexual abuse, sexually explicit clips shot with or without consent of the woman as well as rape videos. It was seen that victims often desisted from lodging a complaint of online sexual abuse for fear of disclosing their identity but now their concerns have been addressed adequately!

For esteemed readers exclusive indulgence, it must also be revealed here that the Criminal Law Act, 2018 also provides for a national registry of sexual offenders. It will be maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). State police forces have been specifically asked to regularly update the database from 2005 onwards. This will help keep track of released convicts who have moved from one place to another.

Be it noted, the database will be stored for 15 years for those posing low danger, 25 years for those posing moderate danger and lifetime for habitual offenders involved in violent crimes like gang-rape. This is truly a commendable and courageous step in the right direction! Critics have been kept at bay and very rightly so!

As it turned out, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said at the launch of the portal carrying national database on sexual offenders that the government had taken several measures to check crime against women and children, including providing for stringent punishment and creating modern forensic facilities to improve investigation, creation of the women's safety division in the MHA and launching of safe city projects. Rajnath rightly pointed out that challenges must be overcome by the police at the ground level to ensure speedy justice to the victims. There can be no denying it!

To put things in perspective, while launching the data abse, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi expressed concern over sexual assaults in children's shelter homes and increasing incidents of NRI grooms abandoning their brides. Even the Supreme Court too just recently expressed its utmost concern over the terrible violence and sexual assaults perpetrated on children in the shelter homes in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh! Who can deny or dispute it?

Simply put, Maneka Gandhi then asked the police force to keep a close watch on such crimes and the arrest of culprits. She also raised the issue of States not responding to a letter sent by her Ministry for procurement specially designed forensic kits that would help in tamper-proof collection of evidence leading to better conviction in such crimes. Responding to Maneka, Joint Secretary of the Home Ministry Punya Salila Srivastava said that as many as 79 lakh rape kits were in the process of procurement and distribution across the country.

Going forward, Maneka Gandhi also while voicing her serious concern over increasing violence in shelter homes said that, "Twenty to thirty percent of sexual assaults take place in shelter homes. In Muzaffarpur in Bihar, the head of a shelter home allegedly sexually assaulted several children, but he was not arrested immediately." Not just this, she also pointed out that, "There was a tunnel from the shelter home to his residence. That means the crimes must have taken place in his residence. I appeal to all DGPs to keep a close eye on all shelter homes of women and children in their jurisdictions."

All said and done, the opening of the sexual offenders registry is not just timely but also terrific because we have seen for ourselves how the sexual crimes like rape, gang rape, stalking, voyeurism and aggravated sexual assault are on a rapid rise! It is a matter of grave concern that the latest NCRB data clearly depicts a 12% rise in rapes between 2015 and 2016 and most worryingly the majority of offenders are well acquainted with the victims! It merits no reiteration that it is here that the list can definitely help the investigation and monitoring process as well as work as an effective deterrent also!

Of course, all the valid concerns must be addressed properly right now. It must be ensured that the data is not misused for other purposes! The process of categorizing offenders must be clearly spelt out. As for instance, the parameters to be adopted in deciding that which rape or any other crime incident is more heinous than the other etc. Finally and most importantly, it must be ensured that this registry does not tarnish a person's reputation to tatters just because of his past conduct to the extent that even if he reforms after serving his legal sentence still he is branded as a criminal and always harassed until he dies! Concerns raised by Bharat Ali of HAQ Centre for Child Rights must also be taken on board. He said clearly and convincingly that, "Once such a registry comes into being, I am concerned that it might lead to people not reporting rapes or sexual offences, because most of them are by people known to the victims." This is moreso because NCRB data of 2015 states that out of 34,651 reported rape cases, 33,098 were committed by people known to the victims!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh