DCW chief fasts for 3rd day against doctors advice

Demanding the death penalty for rapists, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal continued her indefinite hunger strike for the third day on Sunday despite warnings from doctors.

"Her (Maliwal's) medical condition is not good. Doctors have advised her to break her fast but she is not giving up," a DCW official said.

She has not been eating food since Friday and is surviving on water, the official said.

While Maliwal launched the protest at the Rajghat here on Friday to protest the rape incidents in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao and Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua districts, the rapes of two more minors were reported on Sunday.

By evening, the DCW Chairperson tweeted: "The police initially asked me to vacate the place. Now the DCP has come with entire police force with a false doctors' report saying my life is in danger. But I can run for 5 km. They will forcibly pick me up in the night. They are not allowing me to consult a private doctor. What is the fear @narendramodi?"

In an earlier tweet, Maliwal sought the support of political leaders, organisations and social workers saying her campaign was neither targeted against nor in favour of any individual, organisation or party. "This fast is for a society free from any exploitation of women and children. My demand is death penalty for rapists of minors within six months," she said.

Authorities in Patna said a minor girl was gang-raped around 12.30 a.m. on Sunday near the railway tracks in the heart of Bihar's capital.

"Accused Chotu Kumar and Phekan Kumar were caught by a police patrol team that heard the girl's cries for help," police officer Rama Shankar Singh said.

In Odisha, police said a four-year-old girl was raped by a youth in Balasore district. The accused, 24-year-old Nityacharan Jena, is a neighbour.

Meanwhile, in Srinagar, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah demanded a special Jammu and Kashmir Assembly session to pass a bill to hand out capital punishment to those convicted of raping minors.

"It is only by awarding capital punishment to perpetrators of such heinous crime that incidents like Kathua rape and murder can be prevented in future," the former Chief Minister said.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has already said that Jammu and Kashmir will soon pass a bill for death sentence to those who rape minors.

--IANS

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