Law for death by hanging of rape convicts: Mamata Banerjee
After several times demanding stronger punishments for those convicted of rape, Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today announced that she would call a special session of the assembly to pass a law mandating death by hanging of such people.
The chief minister was speaking at the annual celebration of the foundation day of Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad.
The announcement comes in the backdrop of the statewide, and indeed, nationwide, protests demanding exemplary punishment for the person(s) involved in the rape and murder of a second-year postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
Last Thursday (August 22), she wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for a central legislation for speedy justice in cases of sexual assault, highlighting the “regular and increasing” incidents of sexual assault across the country.
Citing data from National Crime Records Bureau’s latest annual report on the crime scene in India, she pointed out that “more than 90 cases are occurring every day”, which, according to her, is shaking the confidence and conscience of the society and the nation.
Her party’s National General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee posted on the issue on Twitter twice in recent times—on August 27, posting a collage of news clippings on the cases of rape and atrocities against women repotted in the 15 days since the RG Kar incident and on August 22, highlighting the fact that “[w]ith 90 rapes reported daily, 4 every hour and 1 every 15 minutes – the urgency for a decisive action is clear”.
