Centre proposes Investigative Units for heinous Crimes against Women

In order to strengthen the investigative apparatus especially for the heinous crimes against women like rape, dowry death, acid attack and human trafficking, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed to assist the States in setting up of Investigative Units on Crimes against Women (IUCAW) in 714 Police Districts with a 50:50 cost sharing basis with States/UTs. The objectives of IUCAW are to augment the investigative machinery of the States in relation to the heinous crimes against women; especially Rape, Dowry Death, Acid Attack, Human Trafficking and domestic violence cases involving brutalization of women, to instill confidence and encourage women to come forward and lodge their complaints and to improve the gender ratio in the State Police forces for effective implementation of the legislations relating to women. 150 such Units have already been established.

These units will also provide the additional functionalities of proactive policing, intelligence gathering, tackling organized crime, monitoring proper implementation of the legislative provisions, help in awareness generation and social participation in prevention of crimes against women.

As per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India, “Police” and “Public Order” are State subjects and, as such the primary responsibility of prevention, detection, registration, investigation and prosecution of crime lies with the States/Union Territory Administrations.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary in a written reply to a question by Smt. K. Maragatham in the Lok Sabha today.