Death penalty, lynching, castration of rapists demanded in Rajya Sabha
New Delhi: Death penalty for rapists, lynching of convicts in public and castration of those convicted were among demands made in Rajya Sabha on Monday as MPs expressed outrage over the Hyderabad rape and murder case and other such incidents in the country.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejected adjournment motions on the gang-rape and murder of a young woman veterinarian in Hyderabad but allowed members to make brief mentions on the same and other such incidents elsewhere in the country.
Members cutting across party lines condemned the recent spurt in crime against women and demanded stringent laws that punishes the guilty within a fixed time-frame.
While Naidu described the Hyderabad incident as a disgrace to humanity, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the society will have to tackle this problem at its root.
The guilty should be given stringent punishment without any discrimination of religion or caste, Azad said.
Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan wanted security personnel in-charge of the area in Hyderabad where the crime took place be held accountable and questions be asked.
She said the rapists should be "brought out in public and lynched."
DMK's P Wilson said courts should be empowered to surgically and chemically castrate convicted rapists before they are released from jails so as to check repeat offenders.
The cost of such procedure should be recovered from the accused by selling his assets, he said, adding list of sexual offenders should also be made public.
Mohd. Ali Khan of the Congress wanted timelines be set for trial of accused in fast track courts and the accused not be given an religious colour.
The accused in the Hyderabad incident belong to four separate religions and not one, he said.
Sanjay Singh of the Aam Adami Party (AAP) said stringent action in all cases of sexual assault on women should be taken after a trial in fast track court and punishment given within a timeframe.
Amar Patnaik of the BJD demanded death for such heinous crimes.
While T K Rangarajan of CPM said laws be framed to tackle crime are not percolating down, Vaiko of the DMK wanted concrete action be taken to deal with such crimes.
Santanu Sen of the TMC wanted strong steps be taken for give out exemplary punishment to the guilty.
Raising the issue of delay in police action in the Hyderabad incident over jurisdiction dispute between police stations, Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar (TDP) wanted capital punishment be given to the rapists in public.
While Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) said deterrence is not enough, R K Sinha of the BJP said capital punishment is yet to be given to the guilty of the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi due to appeals in the case.
Vijila Sathyananth (AIAMDK) demanded fast track courts to trial in rape cases as well as a complete ban on sale of drugs that was fuelling such incidents.
The charred body of the 25-year old woman, who worked as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital, was found under a culvert in Shadnagar in Hyderabad on November 28, a day after she went missing.
Four men, all lorry workers, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on November 29 on charges of raping and killing the woman and had been sent to judicial custody for 14 days on Saturday.
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Kannur dental student death: Case registered against loan app operators, parents allege murder
Kannur (PTI): A case has been registered against unidentified loan app operators in connection with the death of a Kannur Dental College student in Anjarakandy, officials said on Monday.
However, the victim’s parents alleged that their son was murdered and held the college faculty responsible for his death.
The Kannur Cyber Police registered the case on Sunday night based on a complaint by an assistant professor of the college.
According to police, Nithin Raj R L, a first-year BDS student, had taken a loan through an online loan app.
After he defaulted on repayment, the app operators allegedly began contacting the assistant professor.
The FIR stated that the accused contacted the woman faculty member via MMS and WhatsApp, threatening her over repayment and attempting to siphon off money illegally.
Sources said that in cases of default, such loan app operators often send messages to all available contacts of the borrower.
Raj (22), a native of Uzhamalackal, Puthukulangara in Thiruvananthapuram district, was found critically injured near the medical college block after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
The family alleged that Raj was subjected to emotional harassment on caste and complexion grounds by two faculty members, following which a case was registered against Dental Anatomy Department Head M K Ram and Associate Professor K T Sangeetha Nambiar for abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Even though notices were issued to both accused to appear for interrogation, they are yet to respond to the police, officials said.
Police officials said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case is also examining whether Raj’s death was linked to threats from the loan app operators.
The cyber case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 308(3) (extortion), along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources).
Police said Raj’s mobile phone will be examined to gather details about the loan app, and a detailed statement will be recorded from the assistant professor who received the threatening messages and calls.
Meanwhile, the SIT has recovered chat details from Raj’s phone, which indicate that he had sought more time to repay the loan.
According to police, Raj had taken a loan of Rs 14,000, and the app operators had demanded immediate repayment of Rs 8,000.
As his family was facing financial difficulties, he had requested a few weeks’ time to settle the dues.
The SIT, led by the Station House Officer of Chakkarakkallu police station, visited Raj’s house on Monday and recorded statements of his parents and sister.
The four-member team also collected digital evidence from them.
The family also met the State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar and filed a petition seeking a detailed probe into the incident.
Raj’s father Rajan said his son had taken the loan for his mother’s treatment.
“We were repaying it. But recently, the repayment defaulted. If the teacher was aggrieved by the loan app’s calls and my son had done anything wrong, they should have informed us. You can check my phone, there is no call from the college,” he said.
Rajan said he had little hope of getting justice.
“They all killed my son. What justice can I expect? I worked hard for his education. We lost everything,” he said.
He also alleged that even three days after Raj’s death, there had been no communication from the college authorities.
“He was a student of that college. Not even a word from the authorities. Students there, fearing for their future, are not speaking out. At least one student should speak out for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests erupted at Kannur Dental College on Monday, with final-year BDS students also joining the agitation.
The college has granted leave to students of other batches following the incident.
Students alleged that the accused faculty member, M K Ram, misbehaved with students by body-shaming and physical assault.
“We were living under severe pressure. Ram was involved in body-shaming. Verbal abuse was frequent. Apart from it, he used to hit students on the head. There were also complaints against him and disciplinary action taken earlier,” a student told reporters.
Political organisations, including KSU of the Congress, SFI and DYFI of the CPI(M), MSF of the IUML and ABVP of the BJP, carried out protest marches.
KSU and SFI activists who entered the college compound were later detained and removed by police.
Kerala SC/ST Commission Chairperson Shekaran Miniyodan visited Raj’s house and interacted with his family.
He said the Commission has registered a case and sought a report from the police.
“We will collect information along with the SIT about the incident. Apart from the preliminary investigation report, we will also examine the postmortem report,” he said.
Similarly, the Kerala Youth Commission has also registered a case and recorded statements of students of the college.
Commission Chairman M Shajar said students have raised serious allegations against M K Ram and that a detailed probe would be conducted with police support.
Earlier, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission had also registered a case and sought a report from the police.
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