New Delhi: Rajkummar Rao has said rapists should be hanged once they are proven guilty.
He was speaking at a Yuvaa panel for Prahaar: The Untold Story of Ujjwal Nikam, in which Rao plays public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who prosecuted Ajmal Kasab in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case. Wamiqa Gabbi, who stars opposite Rao in the film, and Nikam were also on the panel.
The discussion turned to women’s safety and what could be done to make the country safer.
Rao called rape “the most heinous crime” and said such cases should go through fast-track courts.
“Even in brutal cases like rape, which I think is the most heinous crime, there should be fast-track courts,” he said.
Rao said there were legal points that had to be considered, but once a person was proven guilty, “they should be hanged”.
“The more hangings there are in our country, the more fear will set in. That fear is very necessary,” he said.
He said hanging rapists will make other people “think ten times” before committing such a crime.
Rao had begun by talking about stricter laws more generally. He gave the example of traffic fines, saying people were less likely to break rules when they knew the punishment would be heavy.
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Women’s safety still not a priority
Nikam agreed with Rao on deterrent punishment.
“It is a deterrent to the criminal and it gives a strong message to people that if you do this act, you will face the same consequence,” he said.
Nikam also said such trials needed to be taken up on “top priority” and that it was the government’s responsibility to provide the infrastructure needed to do that.
Gabbi said women had been talking about safety for years, but it still was not being treated as a priority.
“We know the solutions. We are talking about them too. But nobody is making it a priority. People in power have to make it a priority,” she said.
Gabbi said women were still protesting over something that should not need to be explained.
“I truly, as a woman, feel very helpless about it,” she said.
Prahaar explores Ujjwal Nikam’s role in legal battles surrounding the 1993 Bombay bombings and 2008 Mumbai attacks. It releases on 16 October.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)