New Delhi,Apr 21: BJP leader Sushma Swaraj's demand for death penalty to child rapists on Sunday got the backing of CPM which said it was open to the idea.
"We are willing to discuss and consider this because what happened in this Delhi rape case is gruesome. There is something seriously wrong in the society and there is no fear of the law," CPM leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters outside Parliament here on Sunday.
He was asked to react on Swaraj's demand that the new anti-rape law be made more stringent and provide for death penalty in cases of rape of children and those involving brutality and barbarity.
Sushma Swaraj had asked home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to convene a meeting of representatives of all political parties to consider provision on providing death sentence to perpetrators of such brutal crimes.
Asked if somebody should be held accountable in the government for the way the Delhi Police has investigated the case, the CPM leader said, "Of course, someone (has) to be held accountable. What is this nonsense of offering bribes to the victims.
Yechury also announced to raise the matter of assault on a woman protester in the House.
Protests continue
Protesters continued to gather outside AIIMS and Delhi Police headquarters for the second day on Sunday to express solidarity with the five-year-old rape victim.
They sought the resignation of Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar.
Though not in large numbers, the protesters of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) shouted slogans against Kumar and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Scores of activists of BJP's Mahila Morcha were detained and taken to a nearby police station when they staged a protest outside Congress president Sonia Gandhi's residence.
The women activists had marched from party headquarters on Ashoka Road to Gandhi's 10-Janpath residence.
They broke the barricades near Gandhi's residence, but were prevented from moving forward.
Victim improving
Meanwhile, the condition of the five-year-old rape victim is "gradually" improving but it will be at least two weeks before she is discharged from the hospital, according to the doctors at AIIMS.
The child is responding well to the antibiotics, Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent of AIIMS, where the girl was admitted two days back, told reporters.
"We are trying to control the infection in her body and she is responding well. It will take at least two weeks to discharge her from the hospital," he said. The victim has undergone colostomy and other surgical procedures for her injuries.
"She is showing gradual recovery and has slept well in the night. At present her vital parameters are stable. She is conscious, alert and talking to parents, doctors and nurses. She is having mild fever which is showing improvement. As such there is no danger to her life," Sharma said.
The accused in the case, 22-year-old Manoj Kumar, who was arrested from Bihar, will be produced in a court on Monday, Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said.
