M A I N   N E W S

Shinde promises speedy trial
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 22
Shaken by the massive protests against the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today promised that the government would seek speedy trial of the six accused through a fast-track court on a day-to-day basis but was non-committal on the demand for death sentence for rapists.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the chargesheet in the case would be filed shortly since sufficient evidence had been gathered against the accused. He also stated that some policemen had been suspended in connection with Sunday night’s incident for dereliction of duty. The government would also constitute a commission of inquiry to go into the gang-rape incident and suggest measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Shinde said the victim was being given the best medical treatment and the government would do everything possible for her recovery. While appreciating the solidarity being expressed by the people with the victim, he said there was need for calm and appealed to the people not to take the law into their hands.

The government, the minister said, was committed to ensuring the safety of women in Delhi and other parts of the country. To ensure a strong law to tackle crime against women, the government would take immediate steps for amendment of the criminal law for more effective punishment in the rarest of rare cases of sexual assault. The issue needed to be discussed in detail with the Law and Justice Ministry.

Asked why the government could not consider death penalty for the rapists, the Home Minister said the matter had been discussed in Parliament but needed to be debated further.

On Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj’s demand for a special session of Parliament to consider exemplary punishment for the rapists, he said: “I don’t think there is need for a special session since Parliament has just concluded its winter session.’’

He said both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had conveyed to him their outrage over the incident and asked him to ensure speedy justice for the victim. Earlier, the Home Minister also met seven representatives of the protesters and assured them that the government would do everything possible to see that stringent punishment was meted out to the accused.

Sharing her conversation with the PM on twitter, Swaraj said she had also spoken to Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath in this regard. “The people are genuinely angry,” she said.