Indian President Ram Nath Kovind has called for barring rapists of children from seeking mercy from the head of state.
“Women safety is a serious issue. Rape convicts under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) should not have right to file mercy petition. Parliament should review mercy petitions," said the President while addressing a convention on ‘Empowerment of Women for Social Transformation’ at Sirohi in western Rajasthan on Friday.
The statement comes as the President faces dealing with the mercy plea of one of the convicts in a notorious New Delhi rape and murder case, which had triggered national protests in India in 2012.
Nirbhaya (not her real name) was gang raped and brutally killed by six men in a moving bus and thrown off the vehicle. She died of fatal injuries in a Singapore hospital, after the federal government had moved her there for treatment.
On Friday, Nirbhaya’s family made an emotional appeal for justice following the controversial killing of the four accused in a rape and murder by burning of a young vet in Hyderabad.
“It’s been almost seven years that I have been running from pillar to post. I think one of India’s daughters got justice in Hyderabad. I appeal to the justice system to hang the Nirbhaya’s culprits at the earliest,” said Nirbhaya’s mother.