Crime against women unforgivable, guilty should not be spared

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said crimes against women are unpardonable sins and the guilty should not be spared.

He was speaking at the ‘Lakhpati Didi Sammelan’ in north Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, days after the rape-murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital and the sexual assault of two minor girls at a school in Maharashtra’s Badlapur, triggered a nationwide uproar.

“‘The message should go from top to bottom. This sin is unpardonable. Governments will come and go, but protecting life and women’s dignity is a big responsibility of all of us, both as a society and as a government,” Modi said.

Modi said the guilty should not be spared and those helping them should also be dealt with firmly.

“Those helping the perpetrators of crimes against women should not be spared. Be it a hospital, school, government or police station, at whatever level negligence occurs, everyone should be held accountable,” he said.

Modi said Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaced the Indian Penal Code, will provide greater support to women in achieving justice.

“Earlier, there were delays, and we have removed all this in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. If a woman does not want to visit a police station, she can file an e-FIR from her residence, and the police will have to act. There is provision for death penalty and life imprisonment for atrocities against women,” Modi said.