NEW DELHI: Members of both the Houses, cutting across the political parties, condemned the recent cases of rapes in various parts of the country, including the one of a doctor in Hyderabad.
As the Zero Hour began in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Uttam Kumar Reddy (Congress) raised the issue of the gruesome rape and murder of a 26-year-old veterinarian and slammed the Telangana Home Minister for his purported insensitive remarks. He also came down heavily on the state police for initially delaying to lodge a case.
Other members also echoed similar views. DMK’s TR Baalu raised the issue of sexual assault of a school girl in Coimbatore. While TMC’s Sougata Roy said the central government should bring forward a law making rape only punishable by death sentence.
As the Lok Sabha vociferously debated ways to curb violence against women, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that a new law can be brought in to tackle issues of sexual abuse of women “if the House feels the need.”
Similarly, in the Rajya Sabha, members demanded stringent punishment for rapists as the house discussed women’s safety. “Rapists should be brought to public and lynched,” said SP MP Jaya Bachchan, while DMK MP P Wilson said, “The court should be allowed to surgically and chemically castrate convicted rapists before they are released from jails so as to check repeat offenders. The list of sexual offenders should be made public.”
NHRC notice
Expressing concern over cases of sexual violence against women, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday issued notices to the Centre and all states and UTs seeking reports on the standard operating procedures to deal with such cases and use of the Nirbhaya Fund.