Sushma Swaraj demands capital punishment for Delhi gangrapists

BHOPAL: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj demanded capital punishment here today for those convicted in the sensational December 16 gangrape and murder case of a 23-year-old paramedic.

"I have raised the demand to award capital punishment to these four convicts. If they are awarded the death sentence, it would become a model for the country and effectively curb incidents of rapes," she told reporters after addressing a BJP meeting here.

"The new law has a provision to award capital punishment in a rape and murder case. This will be the first case under the new law in which the death sentence should be given," Sushma said.

Today, a Delhi court found four men guilty of gangraping and murdering a paramedical student in a moving bus here on December 16 last year, a case which evoked nationwide outrage and forced the government to enact a stringent anti-rape law.

The court would hear arguments on the quantum of sentence tomorrow.