Capital punishment only way to curb rapes: Congress

The Goa Congress women's wing on Tuesday said capital punishment was the only way to curb crimes like rape in the country. It supported Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remark that India was now known as "rape capital" of the world.

The recent trend of rapes and killings of innocent victims clearly reflects what Gandhi has stated, Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee president Pratima Coutinho said. "We should not live in a state of denial. There are cases of minor girls being raped and killed. Women are not feeling safe on streets in several parts of the country. This is the actual situation and not a political statement," she said.

Coutinho said time has come to amend the existing law and ensure that those convicted for raping and killing are "hanged to death in public". "There is a need to instill fear in the minds of perverts that if they commit such crimes, they would face severe consequences," she said, adding that countries all over the world are adopting a zero-tolerance attitude towards such crimes.

Such crimes can be controlled only by capital punishment, she asserted. While touring his Lok Sabha constituency of Wayanad in Kerala on Saturday, Gandhi said the international community was ridiculing the country and India was known as the rape capital of the world.

His statement drew flak from several quarters, including the BJP..

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