The 26-year-old Hyderabad veterinary doctor’s gang rape and murder echoed both houses of Parliament. While the issue was being discussed, many members backed for inhumane punishments such as lynching and castration of the accused.

The political uproar erupted days after the charred body of the victim was found in Hyderabad after four men gang raped and killed her. Lawmakers from across parties asked for punishments as abnormal as mob lynching. 

Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan Monday suggested that rapists should be “brought out in public and lynched.” BJP MP and former actress Roopa Ganguly also supported the demand and called for “public hangings” of rapists, saying that it should be made a spectacle.

Many parliamentarians shared the same tone on this regard.  “I don’t know how many times I’ve stood and spoken after this kind of crime. I think it is time… whether Nirbhaya or Kathua or what happened in Telangana… I think the people now want the government to give a proper and definite answer,” Ganguly said in Rajya Sabha. 

She also added that the security personnel in charge of the area should be put to investigation and be held accountable. “I think these people need to be shamed in front of the entire country.”

While DMK’s P Wilson argued that castration should be carried out to keep a check on the heinous crimes that are repetitive in nature. 

“The court should be empowered to surgically and chemically castrate convicted rapists before they are released from jails and the cost of such a procedure should be recovered from the accused by selling his assets,” he said. He also added that a list of sexual offenders should also be made public.

The Logical Indian Take

Although the outrage is justified given the gravity of the crime, is it graceful for an MP to advocate for lynchings from the Parliament? 

According to a report in Quint, there have been 113 cases of mob lynchings in India since 2016. Every lynching creates an atmosphere of fear among the locals. In such a situation, how much appropriate is the demand? 

Members of Parliament invoking people’s sentiments on such cases will only worsen the crisis that the country is already gripped with. 

When Members of Parliament encourage violence it vindicates mob justice mentality.

In several sensitive cases, our judiciary has fast-tracked cases and delivered swift justice to the victim. In this case, too, the need of the hour is for the fast track court in Telangana to deliver justice by the book and once again uphold the law.

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