The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Chairperson, Swati Maliwal, on the second day of her indefinite hunger strike said she will end her fast only after her demand for rapists to be hanged within six months of their conviction is met. Maliwal also appealed to all women Member of Parliaments (MPs) to raise the issue of women's safety in the Parliament.
Maliwal is sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at Samta Sthal in national Capital. Maliwal began her hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday night, but later she and her supporters were shifted to Samta Sthal, the memorial of former deputy prime minister Babu Jagjivan Ram. Several women reached Samta Sthal, near Rajghat, to express solidarity with the DCW chief.
"My hunger strike is continuing. We will continue the fight from Rajghat. I will only end my fast after my demands are met," Maliwal said on Twitter.
On Wednesday, she began her day by paying obeisance at Rajghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi. On Wednesday Maliwal also wrote a letter to all women MPs. In the she cited the gangrape and murder case of the Hyderabad veterinarian and the rape and murder of a six-year-old in Rajasthan and said children and women are becoming the victims of sexual crimes across the country.
In the letter, she urged them to raise DCW's demands that include immediate hanging of Nibhaya's rapists, time-bound redressal of mercy petitions and increase in police resources.
The demands of the DCW also include creation of more fast-track courts and adequate usage of Nirbhaya fund. The body has also stressed on digitising the police force and creating a software to fix police accountability in such incidents.