New Delhi: Swift death penalty, public lynching and castration of rape convicts were among the demands made by members in both houses of Parliament on Monday as they expressed deep outrage over the rape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad and other such incidents in the country, while the Centre said it was ready to amend laws to bring in stringent provisions and ensure speedy justice.
Cutting across party lines, MPs condemned the recent spurt in crime against women and demanded strict laws that punish the guilty within a fixed time-frame. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu even suggested a rethink on allowing convicts in heinous crimes to go in for mercy appeals.
Speaking in the Upper House, Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan 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 a procedure should be recovered from the accused by selling his assets, he said, adding the list of sexual offenders should also be made public.
Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the society will have to tackle this problem at its root and the guilty should be given stringent punishment without any discrimination on the basis of religion or caste.
Mohd. Ali Khan of the Congress and Sanjay Singh of the Aam Adami Party (AAP) demanded that the trial and punishment should be carried out within a fixed time frame.
Khan said such crimes should not be given a religious colour and the accused in the Hyderabad incident belong to four separate religions and not one.
Expressing grief, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said, "We in one voice" condemn such incidents.
Responding to a discussion during Zero Hour in the Lower House, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was falling short of words to condemn the heinous crime.
"We are ready for discussions in the House so that stringent provisions in-laws could be explored to give punishment to those involved in such ghastly incidents," he said.
The minister said the incident has hurt everyone. He observed that such heinous crimes were happening even after strict law was framed post the Nirbhaya incident.
As one member after another mentioned the ghastly crime, Union minister G Kishan Reddy said that the government is ready to amend the Indian Penal Code and CrPC to ensure swift justice in cases of heinous crimes like the Hyderabad rape and murder case.
The Centre had written to states and police forces over the issue, he said, adding various parties will be consulted.
Reddy said the government has come out with 112, an all-in-one emergency helpline number, and has "zero tolerance" against crimes against women.
As soon as the House met for the day, Speaker Om Birla said he would allow members to raise the "serious issue" in the Zero Hour.
Terming the rape of the young veterinarian in Hyderabad as "painful" and an "inhuman" incident, Congress MP Uttam Kumar Reddy blamed the sale of liquor in Telangana for the unfortunate incident and demanded that fast track court should pronounce quick verdict and hang the convicts.
T R Baalu (DMK) raised the issue of sexual assault on a school girl in Coimbatore.
Those involved in the crime should be punished, Baalu said, adding the government should come forward and ensure time-bound action.
Saugata Roy (TMC) as of the view that the House should take cognisance of this serious incident and urged the Centre to immediately frame laws to make rape punishable by death sentence.
Observing that such brutal incidents create a bad atmosphere across the country, Bandi Sanjay Kumar (BJP) said that "we need to implement punishment on the spot."
"How we need to respond is the debate of the day. How can we see that such incidents are checked," he said.
Pinaki Misra (BJD) questioned the delay in executing the death sentence awarded to convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case.
He said laws and establishment of fast track courts will not make a difference till the time the death sentence is not executed.
"At this hour we should speak in one voice," he said.
NCP's Supriya Sule (NCP) said that there should be "zero tolerance" towards such incidents.
Vinayak Raut (Shiv Sena) also condemned the incident and said there was a need to bring a law in the ongoing session.
Danish Ali (BSP) said the Telangana incident has brought shame to the country.
Nama Nageswar Rao of the TRS, which is in power in Telangana, said the state government had given highest priority to cases of crime against women and noted that accused in this case were arrested within six hours.
Time has come for amending the IPC and CrPC provision suitably so that a judgement can be delivered in 30 days in such cases, he said.
Earlier, Rajya Sabha Chairman Naidu rejected adjournment on the Hyderabad incident but allowed members to make brief mentions on the same and other such incidents elsewhere in the country.
As several MPs made a case for setting up more fast track courts to deal with cases of sexual assault, Naidu lamented the process of "appeal, next appeal, and next appeal".
"What happens even after punishment is given (to convicts). We all are witnesses...appeal, mercy (petition)...can anybody think of having mercy on such people," he said, observing this process has been followed for years.
"We should really think about change in the legal system, in our judicial system," he said.
"This kind of violation of the dignity of women cannot go on unchallenged. It should be nipped in the bud," he said and added that it was already too late.
The Chairman also suggested photographs of people found guilty of a crime against women should be published so that there are some social stigma and fear.
"What is required is not a new bill. What is required is a political will, administrative skill and then change of mindset and go for the kill of the social evil," he said.
Amar Patnaik of the BJD demanded death penalty for such heinous crimes.
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 for rapists in public.
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 the 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.