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Madhya Pradesh minister Usha Thakur on Thursday demanded that rapists be publicly hanged so that this kind of punishment serves as a strong deterrent for others and nobody dares to indulge in such crimes again.
Her statement comes in the wake of alleged rape of a four-year-old girl in Khandwa district of the state earlier this week.
"The Madhya Pradesh government is dealing with such savage elements sternly and with alertness. It is the first state in the country that has made a provision for death penalty to rapists. So far, 72 such criminals have been awarded capital punishment," the Tourism and Culture Minister told reporters.
But if even after that such repeated crimes continue to occur, then it is a matter of concern for the society, for the fourth estate of the democracy, the media and for all of us, she said.
"We have to enlighten the society through various means. How can anybody indulge in such barbaric acts? I will make a request to chief minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) that such criminals should be given punishment at public squares. An accused is given capital punishment in jail, but where it happened nobody knows.
"If the two criminals caught in connection with the recent incidents of rapes here are hanged publicly at a square in Khandwa city, then all such persons (criminal elements) will think thousand times before touching any daughter," Thakur said.
In the recent incident, the four-year-old girl was sexually assaulted before being abandoned in a sugarcane field in Khandwa.
The child, who was found in an unconscious state in the bushes at the farm on Monday, is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Indore, an official said.
One man was arrested in connection with that case, while another one was caught in a different rape case in the district.
The minister was apparently referring to these two accused while talking to reporters.
She also appealed to people to support her view and added that they will also request the chief minister to hang the rapists at public places to deter others from indulging in such crimes in future.