NEW DELHI: Congress on Saturday submitted its suggestions on stringent laws for crimes against women to Justice JS Verma committee even as it disfavoured chemical castration of rapists.
Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said the suggestions have been given to the panel set up in the wake of the gang-rape incident in Delhi that led to outrage across the country.
While details of the suggestions given to the committee were not immediately known, the party has been favouring imprisonment up to 30 years for rapists and setting up of fast-track courts as also redefining the juvenile act by reducing the age limit.
Leaders like Renuka Chaudhary had sought chemical castration of rapists but the party has made it clear that no such suggestion has been made by party chief Sonia Gandhi.
Gandhi had recently held a meeting with top leaders as also experts for consultations over the issue. The suggestions were given a day after the party top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gandhi, held deliberations.
The Verma committee was set up on December 23 with a mandate to review the present statute so as to provide for speedier justice and enhanced punishment in cases of aggravated sexual assault. The committee has to submit its report in 30 days.
Delhi Police faces attack for alleged squabble, delayed response
Delhi Police came under attack for alleged squabbling over jurisdiction and delayed response to the gangrape victim’s call for help on the fateful night here last month.
The charges were dismissed by the police which said PCR vans took the 23-year-old girl and her male friend to hospital within 34 minutes of receiving the call. Police also rejected the charge that its personnel in the PCR vans had quarelled over jurisdiction as the two victims lay in a state of undress and bleeding crying for help. The charge was made by the male friend in an interview to Zee News aired last night. The police was also the butt of criticism for its decision to file a case against Zee News for airing the interview on the ground that it could lead to disclosure of her identity, a violation of law.
Sudhir Chaudhary, Zee News Editor, appeared before Police this evening after he was asked to by investigators. BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad slammed the police for causing undue delay in taking the victim and her friend to hospital. Former IPS officer and activist Kiran Bedi, who served with the Delhi Police for decades, said the policemen who arrived on the spot could have registered an FIR on their own as no law prescribes that the document can be registered only under a particular police station. National Commission for Women chairperson Mamata Sharma sought “strict action” against the policemen and demanded that an FIR be lodged against the personnel on duty for the act. Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj accused police of muzzling the voice of people by lodging a case against the channel. “People have a right to know the truth,” she tweeted. Addressing a press conference, Joint Commissioner of Police (South-West) Vivek Gogia dismissed allegations that police response was tardy and the PCR vans had wasted time in taking them to a hospital by arguing over jurisdiction of the case . “There was no issue over jurisdiction of the case as PCR vans do not operate under police stations and their operation is regulated by control room at police headquarters,” he said. (PTI)