‘Is there a country where there’s no rape?’
National spokesperson of ruling BJP party accuses media of ‘selective outcry’
The national spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Meenakshi Lekhi, has accused opposition parties of doing “dangerous politics” over high profile rape incidents. Addressing the press early this week, Lekhi termed much of the attacks on the BJP government “as a pattern” by the opposition to undermine the Modi government.
Lekhi is a Supreme Court lawyer and one of the most prominent faces of the BJP participating in various television shows. She speaks to Gulf News.
It appears the government has finally moved to amend the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill, 2012 (Posco) by making provisions for death penalty for rape of minors below the age of 12?
These steps have been in consideration for a very long time and the language of the section, which I had long ago suggested, does not just pertain to young victims of such crimes, but also life-altering events, even in the case of adult women, should be brought in and the penalty must be allowed.
Some people say no girl or woman feels safe in the country right now?
India’s population is 1.3 billion, but when rapes happen an impression is created that all girls and women are not safe in this country. And this is what I object to. In this huge population, there will be some individuals who are psychopaths in their conduct and behaviour. But to say that the society is insecure is insane.
A lot of women activists are against death penalty saying it cannot be a deterrent to crime?
I have a question. Which is the country where there’s no rape? Please check the dates of those particular days when crimes have happened in India and the countries you think were secure (on those days).
The entire country is unison in venting their anger over the rapes in Kathua and Unnao by saying ‘enough is enough’. Your comment? “Enough is enough” is for everyone, but there’s politicisation of the issue by certain vested interests. These are heinous crimes, which no one in the country will approve of. But to play politics out of it and create an atmosphere of insecurity is very incorrect. Media organisations across the spectrum have made scathing remarks over the delay in reaction by the BJP government in these cases. Which is very sad because the BJP in the [Uttar Pradesh] state acted immediately. It is a state subject and states are supposed to act. When crime happens in the country in one corner or the other corner, the central government should not be expected to deal with them.
Since the Nirbhaya case of 2012, a new law against sexual atrocities against women was enacted under the Indian Penal Code. But media reports say the Nirbhaya Fund has been underutilised.
It [the fund] all goes to the states. The funding has to be spent [by them] in a very sensible way. Since I have no knowledge of this, I would not like to comment on this.
The National Crime Records Bureau recorded 19,675 cases of rape against minors in 2016. How about having fast track courts to address all such cases?
[The figure should be] divided by the 1.3 billion population of the country. As for fast track courts, everything has to be fast-tracked. But building a hype can also cause injustice in the process, because, at times, when the police is under pressure, investigation can be affected.
There is a mismatch of non-power, of funding, financing and managing the states. So, there has to be a balance. We are a very sane and safe society compared to many other countries. We are a country of diverse people and I am not saying crimes are not happening. I am not saying there should be leniency towards [people committing] crimes. There should be absolute strictness about dealing with the perpetrators. But portrayal of the country as unsafe is a wrong message. I do not want to speak on such subjects.