Harsimrat Kaur says courts should wrap up rape cases in time equivalent to victim's age

On Tuesday, December 3, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal condemned the rape and murder of Hyderabad veterinarian saying, the courts should wrap up cases of rape in a quick and efficient time-bound manner. Harsimrat Kaur also put forward an interesting idea asking the courts to pronounce verdict in as many months as the age of the victim. "If a six-year-old girl is raped then her case should be shut down within six months if a 26-year-old woman is raped her case should be shut down in 26 months and so on. The cases should be handled in a time-bound manner depending on the age of the girl or woman," she added.

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"They should think out of the box. All women courts should run in a time-bound manner," Badal said.

Harsimarat Kaur also spoke about empowering women across the judicial field as well saying courts should conduct special sessions with women lawyers to help them fight women-related cases. When asked about the Hyderabad Horror, the Minister said:

"It's very saddening as we as a government couldn't provide justice to our daughters, there are several other reasons as well. Every time such incidents occur and become an issue in the news, but then it becomes business as usual. For such incidents, seriousness is needed at each level, including society's level, government's level and even at the level of courts. This seriousness is missing hence the incidents are rising".

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Recently Jaya Bachchan had spoken about the Hyderabad Case in the Rajya Sabha saying such rapists should be publically lynched. Disagreeing with that Harsimrat Kaur said she was not in favour of this suggestion. "I am not in favour of this because when people are not able to get justice from the law and police they are taking the law in their hands which is our failure on the part of the system," said Badal. "Such failure should not be made a norm. The system needs to be fixed and if a police officer is not working properly in such cases then he should be straightaway given the dismissal order," she added.

Read: NCW chief slams Telangana CM for 'useless statement', asks 'are women prisoners for life?'

Hyderabad Horror

Last week, police found the charred body of a 27-year-old woman, working as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital, under a culvert in Hyderabad after being spotted by passersby. Members of the victim's family had filed a missing complaint after she did not return home by 10.20 pm on Wednesday, November 27. Police said she had gone to the hospital after she parked her two-wheeler near Shamshabad toll plaza and took a shared cab. The victim's sister said the victim had called her saying she felt scared of a lorry driver. Addressing the press on Friday evening, November 29, the Hyderabad Police confirmed that the doctor was gang-raped and said it was pre-planned. The police also confirmed that the four accused have been arrested and that they will refer the case to a fast track court for speedy justice.

Read: Hyderabad Horror: Min issues conditional apology amidst criticism for insensitive remark

(With Agency Inputs)