Rape victim’s kin demand for harsher anti-rape laws

The family of the gangrape victim who breathed her last at a Singapore hospital has put in a request to the political class to bring stringent anti-rape laws to ensure that no other woman faces such brutality, Saubhadra Chatterji reports. Hounded, Delhi gangrape victim’s family leaves Delhi

The family of the gangrape victim who breathed her last at a Singapore hospital has put in a request to the political class to bring stringent anti-rape laws to ensure that no other woman faces such brutality.

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Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar — who had earlier met the family in Safdarjung hospital when the 23-year old woman was admitted there — spent almost a half-hour with the bereaved family after the cremation of the rape victim on Sunday at their residence.

Sources close to Kumar told HT that the woman’s father repeatedly asked the Speaker to ensure stricter laws are passed so that they act as effective deterrents against the crime.

The father also sought tougher clauses against minors committing the crime. Currently, the law differentiates between minor and adult offenders and stipulates lesser punishment for minors. The appeal from the family also comes in the backdrop of a key accused of the gangrape incident turning out to be a minor. He is believed to have hurt the victim most brutally.

During the meeting, Kumar assured all help to the family. In her New Year message to the nation, the Speaker also mentioned about the incident and said that “our hearts are filled with sadness and souls burdened with grief over the demise of a young brave daughter of our nation.”

Pitching hard for making stringent laws, Kumar’s message reflected the appeal of the family too. “She has left us, but has paved the way of social transformation. We have lost one brave daughter but let us save many other daughters. We have to make stringent laws,” she said.

The Lok Sabha secretariat, keeping in mind the shock over her death, cancelled the customary get-together of officials on Tuesday while Kumar also put off several appointments.