JOIN USThe State government has constituted a 26-member “expert panel” to suggest amendments to existing laws, in order to curb rapes and implement measures for the safety of women.
The panel will be headed by former minister M C Nanaiah and he will enjoy Cabinet rank status. The government order was issued on Wednesday and the terms of reference for the panel will be issued in the following days. The panel has 11 sitting legislators, legal experts, representatives of NGOs, retired police officials among others. Following the public outrage over increasing instances of rape, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, announced last week that such a panel will be constituted. The committee will have three months to submit its recommendations.
The legislators on the panel are: Shakuntala Shetty, YSV Datta, Motamma, Jayamala, Tara Anuradha, V S Ugrappa, Basavaraj Horatti, K B Shanappa, Govind Karjol, Tanveer Sait and Vinisha Nero.
Other members in the panel are: former minister Rani Satish, Leela Sampige from the voluntary organisation Nele, former MLC Prafulla Madhukar, retired police officer Jeeja Hari Singh, former coordinator with Unicef Suchitra Rao, journalist Gowri Lankesh, gynaecologist, author and counsellor Sangeetha Saxena, NGO representative Krupa Alwa, former government counsel Chandramouli, former State Election Commissioner M R Hegde. The official members on the committee include secretaries of the departments of Home, Internal Security, Law and Parliamentary Affairs.