More than 100 activists today expressed "deep concern" over increasing incidents of sexual violence against women and young girls and wondered whether the government was taking enough steps to stop such crimes.
Several representatives of womens' movement and outfits working for women and children in a joint statement demanded the government to bring the perpetrators in Kathua, Unnao and other similar cases to justice without delay.
"We are deeply concerned and horrified at the growing and repeated incidents of sexual violence and extreme brutality being inflicted on girls... We feel the time has also come for us to ask all the powers that be whether they believe enough is being done to prevent such dastardly acts on the most vulnerable and hapless categories of the population," they said in the statement.
Rejecting the demand for capital punishment to rapists, the activists said there was a need for "urgent evaluation" of "gaps" in the implementation of the Criminal (Amendment) Law, 2013 and POCSO Act, 2012.
The signatories termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's condemnation of the Kathua and Unnao incidents as "too late".