DCW Chief to Go on Hunger Strike Over Kathua-Unnao Rape Cases
DCW Chief Swati Maliwal to go on an indefinite hunger strike until the PM comes up with a plan to check rape cases.
advertisement
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 Friday to protest the Unnao and Kathua rape incidents.
The DCW chief wrote that taking inspiration from the prime minister's fast, she would go on an indefinite hunger strike until the prime minister comes up with a concrete plan to check the incidents of sexual assault against women in the country.
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".
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).
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)