Moradabad, Apr 10 (Agencies) : Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has triggered a controversy with his remarks questioning the death sentence given to three men who were convicted of two gangrapes in Mumbai. "Should rape cases be punished with hanging? They are boys, they make mistakes. If you vote my party to power, we will check misuse of new anti-rape law," he said at an election rally on Thursday.
Three men were sentenced to death recently for two gangrapes last year in Mumbai, including an attack on a photojournalist that sparked protests in the city.
A Mumbai court had sentenced Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Mohammed Salim Ansari to death, the first time capital punishment was given for rape not involving the death of the victim.
Yadav said that the photo-journalist went to the police and complained because of “differences with the men.”
"Boys and girls... later they had differences, and the girl went and gave a statement that she had been raped. And then three of them were sentenced to death. Should rape cases lead to hanging? They are boys, they make mistakes. Two or three have been given the death sentence in Mumbai. We will try and change such laws... we will also ensure punishment of those who report false cases," he said in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, the state his party has governed since 2012.
A Mumbai sessions court last Friday set a precedent by awarding death penalty to the three convicts in the photojournalist gangrape case.
The accused were awarded death sentence under the new (amended) Section of 376 (e) of the Indian Penal Code as they were found guilty in two gangrape cases. The fourth convict was awarded life imprisonment.
The court awarded maximum punishment to Vijay Jadhav, 19, Kasim Shaikh alias Kasim Bangali, 21, and Mohammed Salim Ansari, 28. These accused were handed over various jail terms along with fine for criminal conspiracy, making video of the offence, unnatural sex, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint and destruction of evidence.
The judge said that there is no chance of reformation of these accused and they are a menace to society and that there was a need to send a stern message to such people.