States should put pressure on Centre for stringent anti-rape laws, says Trinamool's Abhishek Banerjee

Kolkata, Aug 22 (IANS) Trinamool Congress’ general secretary and the party Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee, on Thursday, gave a call to all state governments to put pressure on the Centre to formulate a comprehensive anti-rape law in the country to ensure speedy trial and justice.

“State governments must act and urgently push the Union for a comprehensive anti-rape law that ensures swift and strict justice. Anything less is merely symbolic and tragically ineffective,” said Banerjee in a statement issued in the morning posted on his official X handle.

According to him, the country needs strong laws that mandate completion of the trial and conviction processes within 50 days followed by severe punishments and "not just empty promises".

In his statement, he also pointed out that during the last 10 days, the entire country was protesting over the ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor at state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata earlier this month, 900 rapes have been reported from different pockets of the country during the same period.“Sadly a lasting solution still remains largely undiscussed. With 90 rapes reported daily, 4 every hour and 1 every 15 minutes - the urgency for a decisive action is clear,” his statement read.

Earlier too after the woman doctor’s body was recovered from the hospital premises on the morning of August 9, Banerjee had called for the severest punishment, including encounters with the culprits, in cases of such brutal rape and murder cases.After the vandalism at the emergency department of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, during the midnight of Independence Day, he issued a statement asking police to ensure that every individual responsible for the violence is identified, held accountable, and made to face the law within the next 24 hours, regardless of their political affiliations.The statement comes as the Trinamool Congress government has been facing massive criticism over the handling of the doctor rape-doctor case. Doctors have been protesting over the issue in Kolkata and across the country.