Andhra CM Jagan promises law to punish rapists within 21 days, praises Hyd encounter

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has promised to bring in a law to punish rapists within 21 days of a crime. He also praised his Telangana counterpart KCR, and mocked the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday, over the reported encounter in Hyderabad where four men accused of rape were shot dead. Jagan was addressing the Andhra Assembly when he made the statements. 

On Monday, in the winter session of the Andhra Assembly, MLAs were discussing the issue of sexual violence against women. Condemning such violence, Jagan spoke about the gangrape and murder of Disha (name changed) a veterinarian in Telangana. “This is an incident for which the entire society needs to bow its head in shame. A 26-year-old doctor was raped and killed and burned, in a pre-planned manner. Her bike tyre was punctured. When such an incident happens, how should one respond? How should the police respond? Politicians?” he asked. 

“We need to ask ourselves how we and our police should respond if a similar incident were to happen in our state. After seeing everything on TV, after seeing her parents’ pain, we all thought it’s not wrong, even if they were gunned down,” the CM said. 

The CM said that a law would be brought in wherein stringent punishment would be meted out to perpetrators of crimes against women and the case should be taken to its logical conclusion within 21 working days. “Investigation of cases of crime against women should be completed in one week and the culprits should be punished within three weeks,” said the Chief Minister. 

The proposed Bill is likely to be introduced in the House this week and will have dedicated courts to deal with crimes against women. It will also include the zero FIR provision, which means that police have to register a case anywhere irrespective of jurisdiction to instill confidence among women, an official release from the government said. The Bill will also address the issue of moral policing on social media, and also talk about blocking porn websites. It will also speak about prohibition in the state, the release said. 

“Our Government has closed 43,000 belt shops in villages across the state. We canceled permissions to permit rooms in wine shops in order to decrease the consumption of alcohol” said the Chief Minister 

“Pornography is another reason for crime against women. Though porn sites are blocked, we are not able to control people from watching them. A new bill will be introduced in Assembly addressing all these issues,” said the Chief Minister.

Praising his Telangana counterpar KCR, Jagan further said, “Following media reports about the  gangrape incident, soon the government reacted. I'm saying hats off to Telangana CM KCR and Telangana police officers right here in the House. The encounter took place in unexpected circumstances.”

He was referring to the reported encounter by the Telangana police, where four rape and murder accused were shot dead just 500 m away from where Disha’s body was burned. While several activists, lawyers, and even some police officials have called the Telangana police actio extra judicial and have condemned it, Jagan took a different view in the Assembly. 

Taking a dig at the National Human Rights Commission, which took cognisance of the encounter and constituted a seven member team to conduct a probe, Jagan said, “An encounter took place. If the same thing happens in a film, where a hero chases and encounters someone, won't we clap and celebrate? But in real life if anyone who has the guts does the same, what happens is someone called National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) comes down from Delhi and questions saying its wrong, and why and how it happened. This is the pathetic condition our legislatures are in today.”

The CM also spoke about the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder, about how Nirbhaya’s family is still running around for justice. Promising a law to ensure punishment for rapists within 21 days of the crime, he further stated that women in the country are looking for instant relief whenever such incidents happen.