Demanding Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal continued her hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday night, demanding death penalty for convicts in rape cases within 6 months.
However, the Delhi Police on Tuesday evening requested Maliwal to vacate the Jantar Mantar premises, citing a standing order that prohibits protests at the venue after 5 pm.
Also, Maliwal was joined by several women from across the city in her protest against the gangrape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad and the rape of a six-year-old girl in Rajasthan.
During the day, the women supporting Maliwal in the protest shouted slogans to highlight the lack of security women feel in the country. They also raised slogans demanding justice for the Hyderabad veterinarian — “Udane do parindo ko, phansi do darindo ko”, “we would not tolerate this anymore,” “Nirbhaya hum sharminda hai, tere kaatil zinda hai”.
Maliwal during the protest said she has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding that rapists be hanged within six months of their conviction.
“My demand to PM is that we want capital punishment for the rapists of minor and major victims. The accused in the Hyderabad case must be hanged. Last year, I sat on protest and within 10 days, the Government made a law that the rapists of minors will get capital punishment within six months, but this did not happen,” she said.
“I want the PM to implement the law now. I am demanding strict and swift punishment,” she said, adding that the process to decide on mercy petitions should be time-bound,” she said
The DCW chief said there is a shortage of 66,000 police officers and 45 fast-track courts in the capital Delhi. “We need to enhance the infrastructure for a better implementation of the law.”
She claimed she did not receive a single reply from the Prime Minister to the hundreds of letter she wrote to him as the chief of the Delhi Commission for Women.
Hitting hard on Delhi Police, Maliwal said that the Delhi Police denied her permission to hold the protest at Jantar Mantar. However, the police said they have not rejected her demand.
According to a senior police official, a letter was sent to DCW seeking details about the nature of the protest, mode of transport, microphone arrangements and the number of protesters expected there, with a copy of an undertaking to be filled according to Supreme Court guidelines and still those details are awaited.
Maliwal alleged that the Delhi Police is also not supporting her. “We do not have any tent here and it will be difficult for us to spend the night. They are threatening us that they will throw the protestors out by 5 in the morning,” she said.
“I want to tell Delhi police that we are protesting so that your force will get 66,000 new officers. I am not a criminal, I want your (Delhi police) support and I appeal to the countrymen that they should come out in large number and support us,” Maliwal added.
Meanwhile the protestors who had come to support Mailwal said that they have come here to support the DCW’s chief demand and they will sit beside her until and unless their demand is approved.