“Law would be enacted soon to hang those convicted of raping a girl aged 12 or younger,” Manohar Lal Khattar said. (Express Photo: Sahil Walia) “Law would be enacted soon to hang those convicted of raping a girl aged 12 or younger,” Manohar Lal Khattar said. (Express Photo: Sahil Walia)

The Haryana Government will enact a law to provide capital punishment for those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 years or less. It will also make a request for setting up of fast-track courts for dealing with rape cases to ensure speedy justice to the victims.

This was disclosed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was addressing people after laying the foundation stone of a new sugar mill in Karnal on Saturday. The announcement came in the wake of an alleged spurt in rape incidents, mainly involving minor girls, in Haryana.

Khattar said though the police were dealing with such cases as required under the law, it had been decided to make provision for harsher punishment for rape. “Law would be enacted soon to hang those convicted of raping a girl aged 12 or younger,” he said.

Khattar advised the media “not to create sensation by publishing reports on rape incidents without verifying facts”.

He said figures for last year revealed that “25 per cent of rape complaints registered at police stations were found to be fake”.

“Earlier (during previous regimes), complainants had to face a tough time in getting an FIR registered even after repeated requests. But today, not a single person can claim non-registration of FIR in any case by the police,” he said.

“Usually, relatives and near and dear ones of the victim have been found to be involved in about 75 per cent of rape cases. Besides the police, it is also the responsibility of society to come forward and generate awareness among people against such kind of mentality,” said the CM.

He also assured the people that the police were working actively to solve the recent cases of rape in the state and that those involved in Faridabad rape case had already been arrested.

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