Fast track cases of rapes of minors: Rahul to PM Modi

Amid public outrage over Kathua and Unnao rape cases, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fast track cases of rapes of minors and punish the guilty if he was serious about providing justice to the country's daughters.

Rahul pointed out that there were as many as 19,675 cases of rapes of minor children in 2016, terming them "shameful".

"There were 19,675 rapes of minor children reported in 2016. This is shameful. The prime minister should fast track these cases and punish the guilty if he is serious about providing justice for our daughters," Rahul said on Twitter, using the hashtag 'SpeakUp'.

His remarks come days after the prime minister said that the guilty in the Kathua and Unnao incidents would not be spared and the country's daughters will get justice.

Expressing anguish over the two incidents which have triggered widespread outrage, the prime minister had said such crimes challenge the very concept of social justice "and as a society and a country we all are ashamed of it."

"I want to assure the nation that no criminal will be spared. Justice will be done. Our daughters will get justice. We all will have to work together to end this internal evil," he had said at an event last week.

In Kathua, an eight-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered while in Unnao, a 17-year-old has accused a BJP MLA of raping her.