Castrate, lynch rapists: Parliament roars on Hyderabad horror

Incensed and emotionally-loaded debates on the gruesome rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad, rocked the Parliament on Monday (December 2) with several MPs in both the Houses demanding punishments ranging from castration to death penalty to lynching for the accused.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu while rejecting adjournment motions on the rape and murder case, however, allowed members to make brief mentions on the same and other such incidents elsewhere in the country.

Naidu said the need of the hour is not a new bill, but “political will, administrative skill, change of mindset and then go for kill of the social evil”.

Also read: Rapists should be lynched in public: Jaya Bachchan in Rajya Sabha 

While Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Jaya Bachchan said the accused should be lynched in public, AIADMK MP Vijila Sathyanath broke down in the middle of her speech saying that the guilty should be tried in a fasttrack court and hanged before the end of this year.

“These type of people (the rapists) need to be brought out in public and lynched. I think it is time the people now want the government to give a proper, a definite answer,” Bachchan said.

Bachchan said security personnel in-charge in the area in Hyderabad where the rape happened should be taken to task.

“The country is not safe for children and women. Four people who committed this crime should be hanged till death before December 31. A fasttrack court should be set up. Justice delayed is justice denied,” Sathyanath said.

Congress’ Amee Yajnik urged the judiciary, the legislative and the executive to come together and see that a social reformation takes place, on an emergency basis.

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 that the list of sexual offenders should also be made public.

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.

Also read: Telangana CM Rao orders fast track court to try female vet rape-murder case

“No government or leader would want that such incident to occur in their state. This problem can’t be solved by just making laws. To eradicate such acts, there’s a need that we take a stand together against such crimes,” Azad said.

Condemning the crime in the lower house, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the act has brought shame to the entire country.  “It has hurt everyone. The accused must be given the most stringent punishment for their crime,” he said.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla gave the House the permission to discuss on the matter after the Question Hour.

In his speech, Congress MP Uttam Kumar Reddy slammed Telangana Home Minister Md Mahmood Ali for his purported “insensitive” remarks. A day after the charred body of the veterinarian was found, Ali had said that the woman should have dialled 100 instead of calling her sister. Reddy also criticised the police for its inordinate delay in filing an FIR.

BJD MP Pinaki Misra questioned the delay in executing the death sentence awarded to convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case. He said laws and establishment on fast track courts will not make a differences till the time the death sentences are not executed.

Meanwhile, students and women across the country took to the streets demanding justice for the 27-year-old woman. In Delhi, the All India Students Association (AISA) staged a massive protest at Jantar Mantar, while in Bengaluru, women under the aegis of All India Mahila Samskruthika Sanghatane staged a protest against increasing crimes against women and children. In Hyderabad, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) took out a protest rally.

Also read: Hang the rapists: Protesters demand justice for Hyderabad veterinarian 

Four men, aged between 20 and 24 have been arrested on charges of raping and murdering a 27-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad last week.