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Rape cases to be concluded in 3 months?

02 Aug 2021

  • Govt. mulls fast-tracked justice to victims
  • Talks underway with Public Security, Justice Ministries
  • Legal academic cites delays in reports to courts
BY Dinitha Rathnayake The Sri Lankan Government is considering having a specific time frame for the hearing and conclusion of rape trials, with the possibility of a three-month time frame being explored currently. Speaking to The Morning, Minister of Public Security Rear Admiral (Retd.) Sarath Weerasekera said that fast-tracked trials are an important aspect in the country where most of the trials related to rape cases at present take years to conclude. “Most of these cases take years to solve and sometimes a teenager who got raped becomes a mature lady by the time the final decision of the trial is announced. According to the new procedures, we are hoping to conclude trials related to rape cases at least within three months,” Weerasekera added. He also added that discussions are underway with the Ministry of Justice and Minister Ali Sabry on this subject. When queried about the time frame as to when this new plan would be implemented, the Minister said that he cannot assure about a specific time frame since the legal framework would take a considerable time to complete. University of Colombo Sri Palee Campus Rector Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa, speaking to The Morning, marked this as a good policy decision while pointing to the necessity of having in place proper infrastructure. “This is a good policy decision, but first, we need to implement proper infrastructure to adopt this system,” Dr. Mahanamahewa said. The Government would need the support of legal professionals, police officers, investigation officers, and officers who are working on different reports which are required for the trials. According to Dr. Mahanamahewa, most of the trials are delayed due to the reports which should be produced to the courts. “I’m satisfied if these trials would end at least by six months, but I encourage the time frame of three months,” he noted. Dr. Mahanamahewa further added that 142 rape cases were reported in February 2021, according to Parliament reports, noting that the public is still not aware of these statistics since the numbers of such incidents have kept on increasing. “Having a separate section in the Police Child and Women’s Bureau, getting all the video and audio records related to the cases, speedy testimony reports, having dates from the lawyers, having a separate doctor who can examine such cases, a separate analyst, encouraging the victim to proceed to trial, and having closed courts would also help to make this policy decision, a reality,” he further explained. According to him, most of the Middle Eastern and European countries process rape cases as fast track trials.


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