DCW chief writes to PM Narendra Modi on rape incidents; to go on hunger strike

Narendra Modi. File pic

DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over the increasing cases of sexual violence against women, and said she would go on a indefinite hunger strike at the Rajghat from tomorrow to protest the Unnao and Kathua rape incidents. In her letter, she said sexual violence against women and children in the country had reached critical levels.

Maliwal highlighted the rape of an eight-month-old girl in Delhi, the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and the Unnao case. She appealed to the prime minister to "think about these girls" during his fast today and work towards securing justice for them. Maliwal reiterated her demand that a system be created to "award death penalty to rapists of children within six months".

The DCW chief wrote that taking inspiration from the prime minister's fast, she would go on an indefinite hunger strike from tomorrow until the prime minister comes up with a concrete plan to check the incidents of sexual assault against women in the country. Maliwal "expressed pain at the silence of the prime minister on the recent rapes and lack of action regarding the same", according to a statement of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).