Delhi gang rape case: Opposition pushes for tougher laws on crimes against women

NEW DELHI: Echoing widespread demands for stringent punishment for sex crimes, Opposition parties today mounted pressure for convening an early session of Parliament but Government ruled it out saying the Justice Verma Committee was going into the issue of rewriting laws and time is needed.

Even as protesters continued demanding harsh punishment to the accused in the gangrape of the 23-year-old girl, Delhi Police has finalised around 1,000-page charge sheet in the case and is likely to place it before the trial court here on January 3.

Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments, meanwhile, announced financial assistance totalling Rs 35 lakh and a job to the family of the girl.

A day after the cremation of the rape victim, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said she had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately call for a special Parliament session to examine the existing laws regarding rape as there is no scope of giving death penalty in such cases.

"We feel that if a murder takes place after kidnap and rape, then death penalty should be the only punishment. But my demand of special session was rejected by Home Minister. Then we demanded an all-party meeting to discuss the security of women but that was also rejected," the BJP leader said.

Swaraj, who was addressing a condolence meeting organised by Delhi BJP here to pay tributes to the rape victim who died in a Singapore hospital on Saturday, also demanded that such cases be moved only to fast track courts and decided within six months.

On its part, Government said a special session will make sense after it receives the report of the three-member committee, headed by Justice J S Verma, former Chief Justice of India.

"We have appointed the Justice Verma Committee to recommend to the government what changes should be made in the law. Therefore, a special session or a session of Parliament makes sense only when the report is received by the government...So let us first get the report and then we can examine when the session of Parliament should be," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters.