Jammu’s shame: Protesters demand justice for little Asifa. On a day that the Women and Child development Minister Maneka Gandhi announced that the government was planning to amend the law in favour of the death penalty for raping children under 12, the BJP was making excuses for two of its ministers in J&K for backing the accused in the horrible and brutal rape and murder of an 8-year-old shepherd girl in Jammu’s Kathua. The party claims the ministers were misled and that being misled is not a crime. The party with a difference surely has different moral and ethical values.
The BJP on Friday said that two of its leaders in Jammu and Kashmir who joined the rallies in support of the accused in the rape of a minor were “misled and misguided” by people and accused the Congress of communalising rape incidents.
“The two BJP ministers were misled by a few people,” Bharatiya Janata Party MP and spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi told the media here.
“When you are in public life, people come to you with their version… So, the lesson to them is not to believe one side or the other and let the law take its course.”
She said the two BJP ministers should not have joined the protest. “They should have ideally not commented until an investigation was conducted. The J&K Police conducted a thorough investigation and have arrested the accused.”
Lekhi said Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh has also made a statement about the party’s stand on the issue.
“The BJP passed a resolution on April 1 condemning the incident of rape. And the BJP’s stand is that we condemn any incident of rape or atrocities against women or children.”
Asked what action the party would take against its ministers Chaudhary Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga, Lekhi said: “What kind of action should we take if someone comes and says that they were misled?
“Is it a crime to get misled?” she asked, adding that the people get misled and this can happen with anyone.
Hitting out at the Congress for communalising the Kathua rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl, Lekhi said: “You see their (Congress) plan, first shout minority minority, then Dalit Dalit, and now women women, and then try to somehow fix blame of state issues on the Centre.
“And all this while ignoring the strict action being taken by the state governments.”
Taking a jibe at Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s midnight march at India Gate, Lekhi said: “Why there were no candlelight vigils for other rape victims?”
On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, his brother-in-law Robert Vadra and several senior party leaders led a midnight march to India Gate to protest against the Kathua and Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao minor rape cases and said: “It’s time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to walk the talk on ‘beti bachao’ (save girl child).”
The BJP leader also accused the opposition of politicising the rape of girls in Kathua and Unnao.
Lekhi said: “In Kathua rape case, a fair probe is going on and strictest action has been demanded against the culprits.
“An SIT (Special Investigation Team) was formed and six-seven persons were arrested. Also, I would like to say it on record that the Jammu Bar Association President (B.S.) Slathiaji was the polling agent of Ghulam Nabi Azadji,” Lekhi said.
“On one hand, Salathiaji is demanding justice, while on the other hand, he has called to shut down the high court. Now you all can imagine what kind of dirty politics is being played in the country,” she said.
She said that women and children have no religion and that no politics should be done over such issues.
Lekhi said the woman counsel appearing for the Kathua rape victim was being pressurised not to appear in the case.
“This pressure is being built by those who are heading the Bar Council and Bar Associations. This proves what kind of dirty politics is being played in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Speaking of the rape incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao, Lekhi said: “This is a 10-month-old case. The state government has taken action against the erring doctors and they have been suspended. The government also suspended the Unnao Deputy Superintendent of Police.
“The matter was referred to the CBI by the state government and the CBI has detained the BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for questioning,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of an incident of lawyers of Jammu and Kathua bar associations preventing a woman lawyer from appearing for the family of a rape victim.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud directed the members of both the associations to ensure that access of justice was not denied to the victim’s family and that no obstruction is caused to them.
The court also issued notice to the Bar Council of India, Jammu & Kashmir Bar Council, Jammu Bar Association and Kathua District Bar Association seeking response as it was brought to its notice that lawyers did not allow the filing of the chargesheet.
In January, an eight-year-old girl went missing while grazing horses in Rassana forest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district. A week later, her body was recovered.
Investigations revealed she was held captive inside a temple, and was sedated before being repeatedly raped and murdered.
The Supreme Court was urged to take suo motu cognisance of the conduct of lawyers who created ruckus and tried to obstruct the filing of a charge-sheet in the Kathua rape and murder case of an eight-year-old minor.
As lawyer P.V. Dinesh urged the bench headed by the Chief Justice Dipak Misra to take judicial notice of the conduct of the Kathua bar in particular and Jammu Bar in general, the court asked him to place on record the material relating to the incident.
The petitioner urged the court to direct the state Bar Council and the Bar Council of India to take action against the lawyers involved in creating a ruckus in the court premises.
Despite resistance by some lawyers, the charge-sheet was filed in the rape case before the Jammu court.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district.
“Hon PM Sir, there isn’t a day when we don’t hear you speak about things that are important to you yet there are times when you are completely silent about things that are important to others. Please don’t let Asifa be someone you choose to remain silent about,” he tweeted.
Abdullah’s comment comes after two PDP-BJP coalition ministers — Chander Prakash Ganga and Choudhary Lal Singh — attended a Hindu Ekta Manch rally in Kathua that sought the transfer of the investigation from the state police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Pressure is mounting on Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to drop the two ministers from her cabinet.
Mehbooba has convened a meeting of PDP legislators and senior leaders in Srinagar on Saturday to discuss the Kathua case as well the present security situation in the Kashmir Valley.
Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the rape and murder of a minor in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.
In his Facebook post, Chandy said this was one of the worst incidents that the country had witnessed.
Instead of writing slogans of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padao’, “you should first correct your supporters who have done this ghastly crime to turn into a human being”.
“The news of this incident surfaced when you were on fast and by now several hours have passed and you continue to be silent. This is the biggest challenge to our country.
“It’s not when you wish your friends and others in the US or Europe happy birthday but when you join the suffering and pain of your own people that you become a leader with a big heart,” said Chandy.
The Congress leader said that it is only when one reads what Modi’s supporters have to say on the Kathua rape that one realises the deep inroads the Sangh Parivar have made to divide the country.
The Central government is planning to amend the law to ensure the death penalty for those convicted of raping children aged below 12, Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Maneka Gandhi said on Friday.
“I and the Ministry intend to bring an amendment to the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act…,” Gandhi said in a video message.
This comes after the nationwide outrage over the rape of a minor girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir.
Gandhi said she was “deeply disturbed” by the Kathua rape case and all other rape cases involving children.
A Ministry official said: “We (the WCD Ministry) are working on an amendment and once finalised we will send it to the Law ministry. This is going to happen soon.”
The official added that since Parliament is not in session, the government may bring an ordinance to implement the changes, considering the urgency of the situation.
States like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have approved a bill for death penalty for those who rape girls below the age of 12.
The POCSO Act came into force in 2012 and deals with sexual offences against those below 18 years of age.
However, according to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the Act is not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir and the WCD ministry has not spoken on whether the new law will also cover the state.
In the Kathua case, eight people have been charged with the abduction, rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl from the Bakerwal community in Rasana village in January.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will ‘gherao’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on Sunday over what it said was his silence on the rapes in Unnao and Kathua.
Addressing the media, senior party leader Gopal Rai said the party would also launch a country-wide campaign after Sunday on rising attacks against women.
Rai said the Prime Minister became silent whenever the country faced trouble. “Why is he silent? What is the reason? Even Manmohan Singh used to speak at times.”
Rai alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were trying to save the accused BJP MLA in the rape in Unnao.
“The BJP MLA should be arrested and police should end giving protection (to the accused),” Rai said.
He said the AAP would march from Patel Chowk metro station in central Delhi to Modi’s residence at on Sunday evening.
Asked if the AAP had police permission for the rally, Rai said: “Are the attacks on women being done with the permission of police? We just want to see the Prime Minister.” (IANS)