Amaravati: Women and Child Welfare Minister Taneti Vanitha came down heavily on TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh, stating that he has no respect towards the Disha Act and it was evident from burning of its copies.

Speaking to media at Publicity Cell in Secretariat here on Wednesday, the Minister said though the Disha Bill was not enforced as law, it has increased the confidence among the women in regard to their safety. She has explained the immediate help being extended to women and their safety through Disha Bill and Disha App in the state and said the Chief Minister has introduced them to ensure safety and security to women.

She said Maharashtra and Chattisgarh have taken inspiration from Disha Bill and planning to implement it in their own states and flayed TDP for not respecting the Act. She said it used to take about three to four months to investigate a rape case against women in the past, but in 2019 it was 100 days, in 2020 it was 86 days and in 2021 it came down to 42 days.

She said the state government has set up 18 Disha police stations, 3 forensic labs, fast track courts and also appointed DSP cader officers and staff. She said charge sheets were filed in just 15 days in 2,114 cases and added the details of 2, 11,000 suspects were collected and geo-tagged. A total of 148 people were sentenced for crimes against women of which capital punishment eas awarded to three people, life imprisonment to 17, 20 years to 3 and 10 years to 10 people. She said 53 lakh women have already downloaded Disha App which came to the rescue of a woman in distress in New Delhi and she was rescued.