New Delhi, April 14: Veteran actress and politician Hema Malini says there should be a strong support from media and a national uprising to bring justice for the 8-year-old girl who was gang-raped and killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district.

Hema took to the social media on Saturday to express her concern.

"There should be a national uprising with strong support from the media, against these animals who don't spare even babies and toddlers. I agree with Manekaji (Gandhi) that death penalty should be instantaneous once proven guilty and there should be no bail or pardon, juveniles included, for all rapes," she tweeted.

Maneka, the Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister, said on Friday that the Ministry intend to bring an amendment to the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act to provide for stringent punishment against rape.

The minor girl from the Bakerwal community was kidnapped on January 10; taken to a temple in Rasana village in Kathua.

Her attackers, who included temple official and policemen, drugged and gang raped her over days before finally killing her and dumping her body in nearby forest seven days later.

The girl was attacked to scare away the nomadic Muslim community out of the village. 

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Mumbai, Dec 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday described late BJP stalwart and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the "second Nehru" of Indian politics.

Talking to reporters here, Raut also said whenever "raj dharma" is under threat, the country will remember Vajpayee, whose birth centenary is being observed on Wednesday.

The Sena (UBT) leader said even though his party was not with the BJP, Vajpayee will always be remembered.

"The present day BJP may be maligning the legacy of (India's first prime minister) Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru, but Vajpayee was the second Nehru. He was the Nehru of non-Congress parties," the Rajya Sabha member claimed.

"Despite being a staunch Hindutvawadi, Vajpayee believed the country belongs to all. The BJP under Vajpayee was all inclusive and people believed the party wanted to keep India united and strong," he said.

Raut said even Pandit Nehru appreciated and blessed Vajpayee.

"(Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray had tremendous respect for Vajpayee and valued his word," he said.

"Whenever 'raj dharma' is under threat, the country will remember Vajpayee," Raut said.

Asked whether the Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest the local body elections independently, Raut said, "Let the poll schedule be announced, you will know...but we have begun the preparations."

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) is a constituent of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP).

Thackeray snapped ties with long-term ally BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.

In the last month's state polls, the ruling Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP, won 230 of the 288 assembly seats, while the MVA managed to secure only 46 seats.

Elections to various civic bodies in the state, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), are overdue.

The undivided Shiv Sena controlled the cash-rich BMC for 25 consecutive years - from 1997 to 2022.