Government to launch registry of sex offenders next month |ForumIAS

News:

India recently launched a National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO), and is ninth country to do so.

Important Facts:

2. The Criminal Law Act, 2018, provides for a National Registry of Sexual Offenders.

3. National Registry of Sexual Offender Database will have:

Names and aliases, identifiers including PAN and Aadhaar, information of date of birth, criminal history, fingerprints and palm prints, and various other details of criminals.
It will only have details of persons who are aged 18 or more.
The database will include offenders convicted of rape, gang-rape, under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, and of eve teasing.
Database will have records from 2005.
Database Will be maintained by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Accessible only to law enforcement agencies.

4. How this centralized database will work?

Whenever the details of a convict are entered into a prison database anywhere in the country, the name will be uploaded to the registry.

5. How it is maintained in other Countries:

Megan’s Law in U.S – Allows access to database to the public and communities, except data on juveniles.
UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, limit data access only to law-enforcement agencies
Everywhere only convicted persons are entered.

6. Criticism over maintaining the registry database:

It does not have a deterrent impact on convicted person.
It does not help people who have survived sexual violence.
In India, it might not encourage people to report rapes or sexual offences because most of the convicted are known to victims as per the NCRB data.