Vijayawada: Concern over growing atrocities against Dalit, Adivasi women

Vijayawada: Expressing concern over the growing atrocities against minor girls belonging to Dalit and Adivasi communities, Geddam Jhansi, national convener of Dalit Sthree Sakthi, said here on Wednesday that in spite of the enactments like SC,ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act, POCSO Act, Nirbhaya and Disha Act, there has been steady rise in the number of atrocities.

Jhansi was flanked by coordinators of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh —Hemalata and Bhagyalakshmi — while presiding over the meeting of advocates of Guntur and Krishna districts.

Elaborating the problems the victims are facing, Jhansi said that it was imperative that the judiciary needs thorough change to provide justice to the victims.

Advocates including Guntur assistant public prosecutor Sunil, Srikanth, Ankaiah, women advocates Veda, Aruna and Dayaratnam attended the meeting.

The advocates reeled out the issues that were resulting in the acquittal of the accused. According to them, there was no awareness in the victims, inordinate delay in the trial of the cases, and also delay and defects in prosecution, importantly, the victims who are financially weak, could not cope up with the pressure from the accused since they were working under them.

The advocates expressed concern over the politicisation of atrocity cases. It would be possible to stop the atrocities against the Dalits and Adivasis if the police and the judiciary functioned in a right manner.

The coordinators Hemalata and Bhagyalakshmi narrated the shortcomings in the prosecution of accused in both the states.

The Dalit advocates should work hard for the protection of the victims and give a helping hand for the Dalit Sthree Sakthi in handling the cases.