President Kovind terms Kathua rape shameful

SAYS SOCIETY NEEDS TO PROVIDE SAFETY TO CHILDREN

KAKRIYAL: President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday condemned the Kathua rape and murder case as “heinous” and “shameful” and said there was a need to introspect on “what kind of a society we are developing into”.

The president said crimes against children are a deep concern for humanity and there was a need for a firm resolve to provide safety to children.

“Such an incident happening in our country after 70 years of independence is shameful. We all have to think where we are going.what kind of society are we developing into? What are we giving to future generation”, he said.

The president was addressing the 6th convocation of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University here.

“I feel the smile of children is the most beautiful thing in the world. The biggest success of our society is to ensure the safety of children that they feel secure. It is the first responsibility of any society to ensure the security of children so that they feel secure”, he said.

He said children have been becoming targets of serious crimes in some or other part of the country.

“Recently one child became the target of a heinous and barbaric crime, which nobody could ever imagine”, he said, referring to the brutal gangrape and murder of an eightyear-old girl in Kathua.

“Are we developing such a society where our mother sisters and daughters are getting their right to justice, equality and freedom as enshrined in the Constitution”, he asked.

The president called for a resolve to provide security and safety to girl child across the nation.

“It is the responsibility of all of us that it (cases like the Kathua rape and murder case) do not happen with any of our sisters or daughters”, Kovind said. He said if there is good education it makes students good human beings and people who have sensitivity and sense of equality towards others.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who, too, questioned what was wrong with the society. She said, “How can someone do such a cruel thing to a small girl who is a manifestation of Mata Vaishno Devi? There is something wrong with the society.”

Such an incident happening in our country after 70 years of independence is shameful. We all have to think where we are going. What kind of society are we developing into? What are we giving to future generation