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Government to launch registry of sex offenders next month
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.
