Political parties unite in hailing death penalty

An overwhelming majority of political leaders, even those opposed to death penalty, expressed happiness that justice had finally been served by sending the  convicts in the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape case to the gallows.

Hailing the SC’s Friday verdict, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it is a “big day” for the judiciary, which the entire nation was waiting for.

“This is a big day for the Indian judicial system. I know this was a serious and sensitive issue for the entire nation. I am very happy and satisfied with the court’s verdict. I wish her soul rests in peace,” Prasad said.

CPM leader Brinda Karat said she is against death penalty but the paramedic’s rape fell into the heinous crime category, which demanded maximum capital punishment. “I am against death penalty in principle because of the selective nature of judicial process in our country. The court is diluting the maximum punishment and, therefore, the maximum punishment which has been given according to statute books is as it should be....as far as the heinous crime is concerned the maximum punishment was needed. Certainly there was no issue at all,” Karat commented. 

Though Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjwewala praised the apex court order as a deterrent to “sexual predators”, which would prevent them from even dreaming of committing such heinous crimes, he slammed the NDA government for failing to create effective infrastructure to redress rape victims’ grievances despite having a Rs 1,000 crore corpus for the purpose.

He quoted NCRB figures to stress that six women still undergo the trauma of rape in Delhi every day. BJP ally Shiv Sena also felt that the verdict will deter people from committing similar crimes.

Maximum rape cases reported from BJP-ruled states, says Congress

The Congress on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court confirming the death sentence awarded to four convicts but said several similar incidents go unreported, reports DHNS.

Congress’ senior spokesperson Kapil Sibal quoted from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report to highlight the increase in crimes against women that have gone unreported. “In overall crimes against women, Delhi is number one. Out of every one lakh women in Delhi, 184 are subjected to some kind of attack. At number two position is Assam (148 per one lakh women), followed by Telangana (83), Odisha (81) and Rajasthan (81),” he said.

Sibal said maximum cases of rape were reported in BJP-ruled states such as Madhya Pradesh (4,391), Maharashtra (4,144) and Rajasthan (3,644).