Delhi bus gangrape assailants must be made impotent, says NCW chairperson

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday said the government is pressing for strong punishment for the men accused of gangraping a 23-year-old paramedic student in a moving bus in Delhi, so it becomes a deterrent for others.

Shinde said the barbaric incident would not become just another statistic and that police will be more strict in dealing with such cases from now on.

"How can we forget it. It could happen to my daughters also. As a father of three daughters, I am interested in getting a deterrent punishment. We are pressing for that," Shinde told reporters outside Parliament on Thursday.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) demanded enactment of stringent laws to deter people from such crimes and favoured capital punishment for perpetrators.

In favour of capital punishment for perpetrators and suggesting they be made "impotent", NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma said, "Capital punishment is very important. I suggest that they be made impotent so that they repent every day of their life."

The NCW along with its member organisations and NGOs from nine states unanimously passed a resolution demanding strict action against the accused on Thursday. They asked for enactment of stringent laws to prohibit such crimes and said mere removal of tinted glass and increase in police patrol won't solve the purpose.

Anne F Stenhammer, Regional Programme Director for the UN Women South Asia, said violence against women is not a women's issue "but a human rights issue".

"UN Women joins the government and people of India in recognising that we need to take tougher action together to change the present reality and culture of impunity. UN Women in India stresses the urgent need to promote and protect the safety of women and girls in India... We urge that political will must translate into concrete action," a communique issued by Stenhammer said.

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