Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday told the Madras High Court that the safety of women and children remains its top priority, and a comprehensive action plan is being implemented to ensure speedy justice in crimes against them.
The submissions were made by Advocate-General Vijay Narayan before a vacation bench comprising Justice G R Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayanan, during the hearing of a petition filed by a 26-year-old woman from Andhra Pradesh. She was raped by two policemen during a visit to Tiruvannamalai for temple darshan.
The court also directed the Tiruvannamalai Mahila Court to conduct the trial in the sexual assault case on a day-to-day basis and complete it by July 31.
The petitioner had sought speedy trial of sexual assault cases pending before courts across the state and stated that the trial in her case is yet to begin, despite the chargesheet having been filed by the police in November last year.
Advocate-General Vijay Narayan informed the court that steps were being taken to improve infrastructure in courts and establish additional DNA testing and forensic science laboratories to aid investigation and prosecution. He further assured the bench that all possible efforts and administrative measures would be taken to ensure speedy justice in cases involving crimes against women and children.
John Sathyan, senior counsel heading the new TVK government's transition legal team, representing the police department, submitted that the government was treating such offences with utmost seriousness and that the policemen accused in the Tiruvannamalai case had already been dismissed from service.
The bench recorded the submissions and granted time to the state to file a detailed status report. The matter was adjourned to June 22.
