Janjivan Bureau / Mount Abu : President Ram Nath Kovind said on Friday that those convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act should be deprived of their right to mercy petition.
The President, who was addressing an event on women’s safety in Rajasthan’s Abu Road, said that while it was for Parliament to take such a decision, “but the thought of all of us is moving ahead in that direction”.
“Incidents of demonic assaults on daughters shake the conscience of the country. It is the duty of every parent, citizens, yours and mine to strengthen among boys the sense of respect towards women.
“In this context, several things are coming up. Such convicts have been given the right of mercy petition by the Constitution. I have said that there should be reconsideration on this…. In cases under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, they should be deprived of the right of mercy petition. They do not need any such right,” he said.
The president’s remarks came at a time the country witnessed several cases of brutal attacks on women.
A rape survivor from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh was set alight by five men, including two people accused of raping her, on Thursday when she was on her way to court. The woman has been battling for life at a hospital in Delhi with 90 per cent burns.
A veterinarian in her 20s was raped, killed and burnt in Hyderabad last month. The woman’s burnt body, working as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital, was found under a culvert in Shadnagar, near Hyderabad, in the morning of November 28, a day after she went missing.
Empowerment
The President said education was important for empowering women.
“It is true that when you educate a boy, it benefits one family but when you educate a woman, it benefits two. Another important fact is that the children of an educated woman do not remain uneducated,” he said.
Kovind said that financial empowerment of women was equally important and the Centre’s Jan Dhan Yojana has played an important role in that direction.
Remembering BR Ambedkar on his death anniversary, the president said that Ambedkar always gave priority to women empowerment.
He said that there has been an improvement in child sex ratio due to women development centric schemes and Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have been honoured for the improvement.
“I have been informed that an improvement of nearly 35 points is child sex ratio is there in Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. This is an important social change. Birth of 1003 daughters per 1000 sons in Rajasthan’s Banswara district is a good thing,” he said.
He said that example of political empowerment of women are also there.
“This year, for the present Lok Sabha, election of 78 women MP is an achievement for our society. In rural India, more than 10 lakh women through Panchayati Raj Institutions are also playing their role effectively,” he said.
The president was speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day national convention on empowerment of women for social transformation at Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya at Abu Road in Sirohi district.
