Farooq Abdullah, National Conference (NC) president, on Sunday demanded a special session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to bring in a Bill to award capital punishment to those who are convicted of raping minors.
His comments have come in the backdrop of a nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which are in power in the state, should convene a special session to pass the Bill,” Abdullah said.
“It is only by awarding capital punishment to perpetrators of such heinous crime that incidents like Kathua rape and murder can be prevented from occurring in future,” the former Chief Minister added.
“She (Kathua rape victim) is just like my daughter. Thank God, today the nation has woken up and they have taken it very seriously. I hope justice will be done and we will bring a bill in the Assembly session wherein (if) any such incident takes place, the hanging must be brought in,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has already said that Jammu and Kashmir will soon pass a bill to award death sentence to those who rape minors.
On 12 April, the chief minister took to Twitter and posted, “We will never ever let another child suffer in this way. We will bring a new law that will make the death penalty mandatory for those who rape minors.”
(With agency inputs)