Prime Minister Pledges to Act Quickly to Curb Sexual Violence

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised Wednesday to swiftly adopt a special committee’s recommendations for sweeping changes to curb sexual violence against women in India.

A three-member committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court chief justice, J.S. Verma, last week criticized the way the police handle sex crimes against women and recommended an overhaul of law enforcement’s training and procedures.

In a brief letter addressed to the retired justice, Mr. Singh wrote: “On behalf of our government, I assure you that we will be prompt in pursuing the recommendations of the Committee.”

The gang rape on Dec. 16 of a young woman on a moving bus in New Delhi sparked a national debate on the efficacy of India’s legal system in preventing and punishing sexual violence against women.

Nationwide protests in reaction to the rape, and the victim’s eventual death, pushed the government to form a three-person commission, headed by Mr. Verma, to suggest changes to India’s legal system.

In a scathing report, the committee said that the laws were not the problem. Instead, the members said, the problem was the lack of will to enforce the laws. The committee recommended that police officers be required to register all reported cases of rape, that voyeurism and stalking be punished with prison terms and that the humiliating medical examinations of rape victims be eliminated, among other suggestions.

Mr. Verma said in a televised news conference that the committee had worked quickly so that it could present its findings before the Parliament meets in February.

“We have submitted the report! in 29 days. If we are able to do it in half the time available, the government, with its might and resources, should also act fast,” he said.

In his letter, the prime minister also expressed his gratitude to the three members of the committee, which included retired justice Leila Seth and senior Supreme Court lawyer Gopal Subramaniam, for their “labor of love” in their prompt work on the report. “That the Committee submitted its report within a short period of 30 days is testimony to your commitment and concern for the public good,” Mr. Singh wrote.