Meghalaya police in its District wise statement on Crime against Women during 2022 revealed that there are as many as 603 cases of crime against women.
Revealing further, the state police in its website said, of this 78 are cases of rape, where there were 24 cases of Attempt to commit Rape (Sec.376/511 IPC).
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma while reacting on this data said the state Government is ensuring that proper Chargesheets are put in at the earliest.
“Yes, it is a very serious matter and of course we have seen that crimes against women have been there and it has been there for some time and measures are being taken. We are ensuring that more and more police forces having women are there. We are also moving very fast in ensuring that proper chargesheet are put in at the earliest,” Sangma said.
He also said there is need for strict penalties to be put in terms of imprisonment and assured that all steps are taken to bring this down and ensure those who are guilty are punished.
Further, Sangma said that more reforms are underway, including the establishment of the Directorate of Forensics, to further strengthen law enforcement capabilities.
The Chief Minister said earlier the state does not have a forensic directorate and hence the different pieces of evidence that need to be looked into and studied and investigated were sent to laboratories outside the state.
“As we did not have the required equipment to test and which hinder the overall investigation process and would delay justice. Now that we have the forensic directorate, a process will be much faster and we are creating the infrastructure that is required in terms of creating more labs and equipment so that quick tests and investigation can be done so that swift action and justice can be given,” he added.