Goonda Act in Fraser Town case: CM

BANGALORE: With its finger on the growing despondency among Bangaloreans over the recent spiral in crime against children and women, the state government on Monday said police will book a case against the management of the city school where a six-year-old was raped by a skating instructor . The Goonda Act will be invoked against the culprit.Bangalore has been rocked by protests for the past few days. The rape of a 22-year-old woman in Fraser Town on July 11, and the rape of a little girl in her east Bangalore school, have queered the pitch for the government.Home minister KJ George and education minister Kimmane Ratnakar separately met a delegation of parents. Later chief minister Siddaramaiah was closeted with officials of the education department for a discussion on stepping up security for children in schools.Announcing action against the east Bangalore school management, Siddaramaiah said in the assembly it was guilty of negligence, tried to hush up the case, and failed to provide CCTV footage of the campus.Skating instructor Mustafa has been arrested for the child’s rape. Another instructor is on the radar, while police are looking for another staffer who might have facilitated the crime, senior police officers said.George told the parents: “We are looking at booking the school rapist under the Goonda Act. We will look at transferring the case to fast-track courts. Guidelines will be framed for security in all schools.”The parents have been rattled by the school’s alleged indifference to the rape. School officials have remained incommunicado, and the institution remains closed since July 17.Kimmane told the parents that their wards and teachers’ interests will be safeguarded.Earlier in the assembly, chief minister Siddaramaiah said Naseer Hyder, the main accused in the rape of a 22-year-old in Fraser Town on July 11 will be booked under the Goonda Act.“We cannot book all the rape accused under the Goonda Act. But in this case we can afford to do so as the accused has criminal antecedents,’’ he added.If the Goonda Act is invoked in the Fraser Town rape case, it will be the second such example in the state. Six of the accused in the gang rape case of a law student in Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus were booked under the act by the BJP government in 2012. The act is mainly invoked as a preventive measure to stop the accused from getting bail.Quoting an incident reported in Haveri where an elderly man was arrested for allegedly raping his four-year-old granddaughter, the CM said: “I cannot even imagine how people have the mindset to rape a child. It’s high time we instilled a sense of fear in males who resort to such violent crimes without fear.”He said his government has decided to strengthen the existing Goonda Act. The act will be amended in order to book even first-time rapists. At the same time, the government will ask the high court chief justice to spare judges for 10 fast-track courts to handle rape cases.Earlier, home minister George said the proposal to amend the Goonda Act is before the law department. Strict instructions have been issued to police officers to immediately file FIRs against offenders involved in sexual assaults.