Published On : Wed, May 10th, 2017

Nagpur Zone sees 234 cases registered under Atrocities Act in 2016

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Atrocities Act in 2016

Representational Pic


Nagpur:
In the backdrop of a demand to review of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act claiming that provisions of the law are being misused against members of the upper castes, an RTI reply has revealed that a total of 234 complaints under the Prevention of Atrocities Act were filed in the year 2016 in Nagpur Zone comprising Nagpur City, Nagpur Rural, Bhandara, Gondia, Wardha, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Nagpur Railway Police. Chandrapur district saw the maximum complaints of atrocities with the figure of 54 during the period.

The number of cases filed from January 1 to March 31, 2017, stands at 73.

However, the RTI reply did not specify false complaints as the police consider all the complaints as genuine and leave it to courts to decide the fact.

This information was disclosed by PRO and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Civil Rights Committee in response to an RTI query posed by activist Abhay Kolarkar.

In the year 2016, Nagpur city recorded 34 complaints under the Atrocities Act while Nagpur Rural registered 16 cases. Similarly, 40 complaints were filed in Bhandara, 37 in Gondia, 32 in Wardha, 54 in Chandrapur, 20 in Gadchiroli and one case was filed with Nagpur Railway Police.

Four cases of murder were registered in Bhandara, one in Gondia, 2 in Wardha and one in Chandrapur under the provisions of Atrocities Act. In the same period, the Act was invoked in 14 rapes cases in Nagpur City. Similarly, Nagpur Rural saw registration of 4 rape complaints, Bhandara – 9, Gondia – 5, Wardha – 10, Chandrapur – 15 and Gadchiroli – 5 rape cases.

In the year 2017 till March 31, three cases of murder and 18 cases of rape were registered under the Prevention of Atrocities Act. In Nagpur City, 27 cases were filed in courts in 2014 in which one accused was convicted while 14 accused were acquitted. Out of 32 accused chargesheeted in Nagpur Rural in 2014, one was convicted and 31 were acquitted. In 2015, 20 cases were filed in courts in Nagpur City in which one accused was convicted and 31 were acquitted. Nagpur Rural saw 16 cases filed in courts and no one convicted. 11 accused were acquitted. In the year 2016, 35 cases were filed in courts, two accused were jailed and 20 accused acquitted. No convict was awarded 10-year jail in any of the cases.