Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh):
Madhya Pradesh Minister Usha Thakur on Thursday demanded that rapists be hanged in public so that such punishments serve as a strong deterrent to others and that no one dares to commit such crimes again.
Her statement comes in the wake of the alleged rape of a four-year-old girl in the state’s Khandwa district earlier this week.
“The government of Madhya Pradesh is strict and vigilant in dealing with such ferocious elements. It is the first state in the country to impose the death penalty for rapists. So far, 72 such criminals have been given the death penalty,” said the Tourism and Minister of Culture told reporters.
But if such repeated crimes continue even after that, then that is a concern for society, for the fourth estate of democracy, the media and for all of us, she said.
“We need to enlighten society in various ways. How can one indulge in such barbaric acts? I will make a request to the Prime Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) to punish such criminals in public squares. An accused will be sentenced to death in prison, but no one knows where it happened.
“If the two criminals caught in connection with the recent rapes are hanged here in public in a square in the city of Khandwa, then all these individuals (criminal elements) will think a thousand times before touching a daughter,” said Ms Thakur .
In the recent incident, the four-year-old girl was sexually assaulted before being abandoned in a sugar cane field in Khandwa. The child, who was found unconscious in the bushes on the farm on Monday, is being treated at a hospital in Indore, an official said.
One man was arrested in connection with that case, while another was caught in another rape case in the neighborhood.
The minister apparently referred to these two suspects as he spoke to reporters.
She also appealed to people to support her view, adding that they will also ask the prime minister to hang the rapists in public places to deter others from engaging in such crimes in the future.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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