Will end fast only after demand for punishment to rapists is met: Swati

New Delhi: From students to Nirbhaya's parents, people on Wednesday thronged Samta Sthal, where DCW chief Swati Maliwal is on a hunger strike for the second day, demanding capital punishment for rapists within six months of their conviction. Maliwal launched her fast at Jantar Mantar here on Tuesday night, but later, she and her supporters were shifted to Samta Sthal, the memorial of former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief appealed to all female MPs to raise the issue of women's safety in Parliament.

She had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, demanding that rapists be hanged within six months of their conviction.

In a letter addressed to the women MPs, Maliwal cited the gangrape-and-murder case of a veterinarian in Hyderabad and the rape-and-murder case of a six-year-old girl in Rajasthan and said children and women were becoming victims of sex crimes across the country.

Maliwal urged the women MPs to raise the DCW's demands, including immediate hanging of Nirbhaya's rapists, time-bound redressal of mercy petitions and increase in police resources. The demands also include creation of more fast-track courts and an optimum usage of the Nirbhaya fund. The DCW has also stressed on digitising the police force and creating a software to fix police accountability in such incidents.

Maliwal received support from Nirbhaya's parents,

who came to meet her at Samta Sthal.