'Centre to ensure harsh punishment for crimes against women'

'Centre to ensure harsh punishment for crimes against women'

Terming the Delhi gang rape case as

a "horrendous incident" Defence Minister A K Antony today said

the Centre would bring out a law ensuring stringent punishment

for culprits involved in crimes against women immediately on

getting the Justice J S Verma Committee report.

          "What has happened in Delhi is brutal. The accused should

get harshest punishment. This is my view and demand of the

public as a whole," Antony said.

          "Let the protests and reactions of society against the

Delhi incident open our eyes. I don't think the public outcry

would subside soon," he said while inaugurating the 136th

birth anniversary celebrations of Mannath Padmanabhan, social

reformer and founder of Nair Service Society at Perunna near

here.

            Asserting that the Centre would implement the

recommendations of the Verma Committee as soon as it gets the

report, he said law, court and police alone were not enough

but a social movement was needed to prevent crimes against

women.

            The government had on December 23 constituted the

Committee under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) Verma,

former Chief Justice of India, to look into the possible

amendments of the criminal law so as to provide for quicker

trial and enhanced punishment to criminals in such cases.

            "It is the duty of every citizen, both men and women, to

create an atmosphere where women are totally safe at home,

schools, public places and work places," Antony said.

            "Ensuring safety of women not only requires legislative

measures but a strong social movement. This has already

started in India. Not only political parties but social

organisations and NGOs have also a vital role to play in this

movement to cleanse the society from the impurities that have

accumulated and tainting it," he said.

    Lauding the role of Mannath Padmanabhan in reforming the

caste-ridden Kerala society in the last century, Antony said

it was unfortunate that communal mistrust was becoming a cause

for concern in the state again.

    If this was allowed to grow unchecked, Kerala would again

become a "lunatic asylum" of rigid casteism as said by Swami

Vivekananda over a century back, he added.