Noida Killings

Two news reports brought out the complexity in the world we are living in. There is this news report of San Francisco going free wi-fi all over the city. Imagine the possibilities! It opens up unbelievable opportunities for exchange of information in every sphere.The detais are here.

However, this post is about another world. In this world, children go missing, police either don't register FIRs or if they register no action is taken on time. Between 15 to 30 children and young women have been sexually abused, killed and disposed off into a drainage behind the house in Nithari Village, Noida, a suburb of New Delhi. Here is a report.

What went wrong? Why didn't the police act in time?Why didn't an investigation take place? Why did the police wait till the villages stormed the house where the crimes are alleged to have taken place and the issue became a national headline? The victims belonged to immigrant workers. They didn't have the money or the connections to make the system work. And how does the system work?

An investigation begins only after an FIR or First Information Report is registered. And here is the rub. The police refuse to register the FIR for various reasons. It is extra work for them, it shows higher rate of crime, the FIR has to be investigated and closed. So why bother, seems to be the attitude.

I hope the debates on the prime time television leads to some tangible improvements. Like initiating measures to make FIR registration easier and setting up incentives and disincentives for FIR registration. Here is a good article on this issue.

Registering FIR may not mean a successful investigation. But it is a beginning.
What could improve FIR registration? Can police officers be payed on the basis of successful closure of FIRs? Will setting up an independent help line which can be accessed by the victims if the FIRs are not registered help? Currently, if the local officer refuses to register FIR, the only way out is to go the superiors. For the poor and marginalized, these doors are closed. There has to be another channel to get this information, evaluating it and forcing the local police to register FIRs.

Of course it is a much bigger problem. It is linked to political interference, compensation for the police staff and removing corruption. However, we have to make a beginning some where.

2007 could not have begun on a sadder note. I wish you a very happy new year with the hope that things would get better for the people living in this another world in the new year.