Shinde promises speedy trial

Aiming to appease the growing public outrage over Delhi gang rape incident, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday said the trial court will be asked to hold the trial without a break so that the guilty will be punished at the earliest.

Flanked by his cabinet colleague Manish Tiwari and junior home minister R P N Singh who travelled in a DTC bus on Friday night for an on-the spot assessment of the ground scenario, Shinde appealed to the protesters at India Gate to disperse, promising strict and quick action.

The Home Minister said he and his colleague RPN singh are fathers of three daughters and are concerned about safety of women in Delhi and in other parts of the country.

Earlier, Shinde had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who asked him to restore public confidence on police in the national capital.

Asked about awarding the death penalty to the offenders, as demanded by protesters at the India Gate, Shinde said capital punishment is given in the rarest of rare cases and a wider debate is needed on the issue, a view echoed by Tiwari.

Shinde said the public transport system in the capital would be improved by augmenting the number of buses at night. GPS-based navigation system will be installed on all public transport vehicles to ensure that they do not stray from their scheduled routes.

All personnel deployed on public transport will have to carry identification badges. The police will undertake proactive and enhanced patrolling in routes frequented by families and women returning late at night from entertainment hubs and work places.  The government would take immediate steps for the amendment of the Criminal Law for enhanced and more effective punishment in the rarest of the rare cases of sexual assault such as this, he said.   The Home Minister, on the other hand, maintained silence on the much needed police reforms and overhauling VIP security, as demanded by the protesters.