Capital punishment for raping girls below 12, says Haryana CM Khattar

CM also assured people that the police were working actively to solve the recent cases of rape

The Haryana government on Saturday said it will enact a law to provide for capital punishment for those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 years or below.

The state government would make a request for setting up fast-track courts for dealing with rape cases to ensure speedy justice to the victims, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said in Karnal after laying the foundation stone for a new sugar mill.

Expressing anguish and concern over the recent incidents of rapes in the state, Khattar said although the police were dealing with such cases as required under the law, it had been decided to make provisions for harsher punishment for rape.

"A law will be enacted soon to hang those convicted of raping a girl aged 12 or younger," Khattar told the gathering in Karnal, around 125 km from here.

However, instead of pulling up the Haryana Police for its repeated failure in maintaining law and order, Khattar, on this occasion, chose to blame the media for sensationalising the rape incidents.

"I urge the media not to create sensation by publishing reports on rape incidents without verifying acts. Figures suggest that 25 per cent of the rape complaints registered at police stations last year were fake.

"Earlier, complainants had to face a tough time filing an FIR even after repeated requests. But today, not even a single person can claim non-registration of FIR in any case by the police," the Chief Minister said.

Usually, relatives and near and dear ones of the victim had been found to be involved in about 75 per cent rape cases, he pointed out.

"Besides the police, it is also the responsibility of the society to come forward and generate awareness among the people against such (perverse) mentality," Khattar, who had remained silent for four days after brutal rapes and murders of minors rocked the state in the past one week, said.

He also assured people that the police were working actively to solve the recent cases of rape and those involved in Faridabad rape case had already been arrested.