Demands Special Court trial on POCSO pattern
SNS KASHMIR
Srinagar, Feb 03 :
Former Law minster and People’s Conference Senior leader Syed Basharat Bukhari has strongly condemned the Srinagar Acid attack and said the accused should be tried in a special court on the pattern of PoCSO.
In a statement to Kashmir News Service (KNS), the former minster said, “The acid attack accused should be tried by a special court like the one set up for purposes of POCSO (Prevention of Children against Sexual Offences) Act for speedy trial. Moreover, section 326A of IPC needs to be amended to make it stringent and enhance the punishment between 10 years and life imprisonment to death so as to make it deterrent. Further, like POCSO Act, the burden of proving innocence shall be shifted to the accused as in the present criminal justice system, it is almost impossible for the public prosecutors to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
Let the acid attack accused be made to prove their innocence beyond all reasonable doubts.” Mr. Bukhari added that only the victim knows how painfull is to live the rest of life after being subjected to such a henious attack and said Society must play it’s role in preventing such attacks happening in future. He urged Government to act swiftly and take the attack seriously so that women feel safe on the streets and elsewhere.(KNS)