We should find long term solution to incidents of rape, encounter not final answer: Para-athlete Deepa Malik

Noted para-athlete Deepa Malik on Friday said that the encounter should not be the final answer to the incidents of rape, as it is not a long term solution.

Noted para-athlete Deepa Malik on Friday said that the encounter should not be the final answer to the incidents of rape, as it is not a long term solution. "Encounter probably is not the final answer. We have to look for the long term answer. I personally feel it is good to see the people who are accused punished but under the law in the court with proper execution and proper conversation on the matter. And then from the judge and from the court of law if capital punishment is announced that speaks even higher of justice served," Malik told ANI.

Malik's remarks come close on the heels of the four accused in the gang-rape and murder of a young veterinarian in Telangana, who were shot dead by the police earlier in the day in an encounter. "You can make an encounter or two a couple of times but what happens to the heinous crime which is just happening one after the other," she asked.

Commenting on the encounter, Malik said that justice should be served in the court and the accused should get a fair trial. "We have a court of law for this. Are we sure those were the final accused? Those people who have been encountered -- has that been proven that they were the four who did it? Is there enough proof for that," asked Malik.

"Rape happens. The media reports about it. Responsible citizens of the country go out to march, protest and this carries on for a while till another such incident takes place. We have to put a stop on this whole series of rapes," added she. Terming women safety as a serious issue, President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said that rape convicts under POCSO Act should not have the right to file the mercy petition.

"Women safety is a serious issue. Rape convicts under POCSO Act should not have the right to file mercy petition. Parliament should review mercy petitions," he said while addressing the National Convention on Empowerment of Women for Social Transformation."What I demand is a more effective law, like how the President of India today has expressed his views on the matter. I think that is praiseworthy. I absolutely applaud what Kovind Sir has said. If the first citizen of the country is of this view, I'm sure that parliament and the lawmakers are going to take a view on this. If the President is saying, then I think it is very valid," Malik said. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday recommended President Ram Nath Kovind to reject the mercy plea of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape convict Vinay Sharma.

The ministry had sent the file of the petition to the President after it received the mercy plea of the convict. The Delhi government has also rejected the plea. The 23-year-old was brutally raped in the national capital in December 2012 and subsequently died.

The letter by Nirbhaya's parents states that the mercy petition is a "deliberate" attempt to avoid the execution of the death sentence and hamper the dissemination of justice. They stated that the trauma, pain and the agony suffered by them is unbearable and the wait for justice is getting longer and longer.

In 2017, the Supreme Court had dismissed the appeal and the review petition of the convicts and confirmed the sentence awarded. "We have to set examples in society. We have to tell the people of India that no longer the rapes will be tolerated. The girl's safety, sanctity, and respect have to be of the highest order. Being a mother of two daughters and being a woman myself, I absolutely stand by that," Malik said. (ANI)

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