Rapists are terrorists, says Culture Minister

'Death penalty a must to curb crimes against women'

Advocating capital punishment for rapists, Delhi Art and Culture Minister Kapil Sharma on Wednesday said that such criminals should be treated as “terrorists” and “death penalty is a must” for curbing crimes against women.

Mishra also endorsed public prosecution of rapists in his blog titled - ‘Rapists Are Terrorists; Death Penalty A Must’.

In last one year, as many as 450 minor girls were raped in Delhi alone, he added.
“What happened in Bulandshahar can happen to anyone, anytime. And worst part is that such incidences don’t shock us anymore,” he wrote.

The minister said that he had protested to get justice for four-year-old Gudiya (name changed), who was brutally raped in Delhi in 2013, and fought for justice for December 16 gang rape victim, a physiotherapy student.

“Time has come for a decisive, ruthless, tangible response. We as a nation (and) as a society need to treat it as our first and foremost priority. I have been against death penalty for a long time, but I want to say wednesday that ‘rapists are terrorists’,” said Mishra. He added that law has failed to protect women and curbing crimes against women has become the biggest challenge. “Bigger than (issues like) Kashmir, terrorism, naxalism and Pakistan,” he said. “Our daughters, sisters, friends are living in constant fear, (and) are being tormented daily.”

The minister said that rapists should not be given protection under the juvenile act. “If you are old enough to rape, you should be old enough to be punished like adults. You deserve no sympathy,” he said.

The minister said that women should be given training to protect themselves.
“If we can’t protect them, at least let them protect themselves – give arms and arms training to all girls and women. Let them kill those who try to rape them, let them kill their rapists.”

Recommending public punishment for rapists, Mishra said, “Parliament should pass a special law following the Bulandshahar incident and rapists should be killed publicly, let everyone know how we deal with those who dare to touch our daughters and sisters.”
“Identity of rapists and those who harass sexually should be made public. Let everyone know them. If there is a father or uncle who sexually harass our little daughters, let everyone know his name and face and address. The burden of the crime should fall on the criminal and not the victim,” he added.