NEW DELHI: Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal on the fifth day of her fast unto death demanded that the accused in the Unnao rape case be hanged within a month.“Another Indian daughter succumbed after fighting against the worthless system,” Maliwal tweeted in Hindi.
In her last moments, Maliwal said, the victim kept asking the doctors to keep her alive as she wanted to see her rapists hanged.“This is an appeal to the deaf and dumb central government and UP state government. Fast track the process and hang the guilty!” she tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Nirbhaya’s mother went to meet with Maliwal at Rajghat, where the former is conducting an indefinite hunger strike, demanding capital punishment for rapists within six months of their conviction.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh also met Maliwal. Earlier, he tweeted that he would appeal to her to end the fast. “I will appeal to her to end the fast. The fight for justice will continue, but by changing the course of the protest,” he said. This is the second time that she has sat on a hunger strike.
Last year, Maliwal had gone on a hunger strike demanding stringent punishment for child rapists amid massive outcry over the Kathua rape case, where an 8-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua was brutally raped and murdered. She called off the strike ten days later once the Parliament approved a death penalty for child rape convicts.
Maliwal said that she would be conducting the hunger strike for longer this time. “When things got out of control last time, the centre gave up its arrogance and passed the law. I will be sitting for longer this time to ensure that whatever I am asking for is met,” Maliwal said.