Aligarh minor’s killing: DCW chief writes to PM demanding death sentence for guilty

Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding death sentence for those who killed a toddler in Aligarh's Tappal township.

In her letter to the prime minister, Maliwal rued that after promulgating an ordinance that introduced death penalty for rape of girls aged 12 or below, "no new steps" have been taken to prevent incidents of sexual assaults on minor girls despite promises by the government.

The body of the girl was found in a garbage dump on June 2, three days after she was reported missing. The girl's father has alleged that she was killed because he failed to repay a ₹10,000 loan from the accused.

According to police, four people have been arrested in the case so far.

"The Unnao and Kathua rape incidents had jolted the nation and people had hit the streets demanding stringent punishment for such offences. I had also proceeded on a hunger strike. Your cabinet had brought in an ordinance that provided for death penalty for those accused of sexually assaulting girls aged 12 and below," Maliwal wrote in the letter to the prime minister.

"You had also promised that the number of fast-track courts will be increased and better forensic test facilities will be made available to ensure speedy justice to victims. But, no new steps have been taken since to prevent such incidents," the letter read.

The DCW chief said the incident involving the two-and-a-half-year-old girl in Aligarh has "crossed all limits of cruelty".

"She was brutally raped and murdered. Her eyes gauged out and extreme injury inflicted. Government arrested culprit but it's enough? In a land where Nirbhaya is yet 2 get justice, what hope is 4 the little child? Law of death penalty has been made, yet to be implemented! Sick (sic)!" she tweeted.

The culprits in the Aligarh case should be given death penalty so that a strict message goes out to the country, she wrote.

Tension had prevailed in Aligarh's Tappal township after the victim's family alleged that police officials delayed the registration of their complaint and the investigation. Five policemen have been suspended for negligence.

Police have said the post-mortem by a panel of three doctors found "no evidence of sexual assault", and forensic experts were examining vaginal swabs for any further evidence.