GUWAHATI, March 4 - Demanding a fast-track trial in the heinous Gohpur rape and murder case, a number of voluntary organisations of the State have asked the State government to take measures to address the issue of the alarming rise in number of crimes against women in Assam.
�Rape and murder of a minor girl in Gohpur, Assam, has once again raised the ugly head of the ongoing violence against women�in the State. The State of Assam tops the list of crime rate against women, where it stands at 166 per lakh population, according to latest NCRB data. The national average is 58. This is alarming,� a memorandum submitted by the organisations stated.
The organisations � North East Network, Prithibi, Asom�Mahila Sangha, Pragatisheel Nari Sanstha, Roopa Baruah of Kahini Media�and All India Democratic Women�s Association (AIDWA), Assam � have jointly appealed to the State authorities to make the investigation process of the Gohpur rape and murder case fully transparent.
�The trial must be completed in a fast-track court, and the murdered girl�s family must be compensated adequately. The girl�s family must be provided with psychosocial care,� the organisations stated.
The State government was also urged to make sufficient budgetary allocations to make long-term sustainable measures towards women�s safety and improving gender relations in educational institutions, both in the rural and urban spaces of the State.
