Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar Sunday said his government would extend support to the enactment of the law for awarding death sentence to convicted rapists.
"I am in favour of awarding death sentence to rapists and enacting a law to that effect," Shettar told reporters on the margins of a function here, a day after the 23-year-old gang-rape victim of Delhi died in Singapore.
Expressing anguish over the death of the rape victim and conveying his sympathy to the bereaved family, Shettar said the state government would cooperate with the central government in amending the law for awarding capital punishment to rapists convicted of the heinous crime.
"My government will extend cooperation to the centre if a legislation is brought to amend the law for awarding death sentence to the guilty convicted of rape," Shettar said at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Karnataka Journalists Cooperative Society Ltd. here.
In a related development, hundreds of youths, including techies from IT firms, demonstrated at the Freedom Park in the city centre seeking speedy trial of the six accused in the Delhi gang-rape incident and their conviction with capital punishment.
Carrying banners and placards with slogans against the government and police for failing to provide security to women, the protestors, led by the Young Blood Association, sought increasing police patrolling in vulnerable areas and intensified checks of private/chartered buses and taxis to ensure safety of working women and girls.
"The state government should also deploy more women constables in all police stations to instill confidence among women, register complaints against perpetrators of crime against women and investigate cases on fast track to render quick justice," Uma Maheshwari, a software engineer, said addressing the gathering at a condolence meeting.
The protestors also observed a minute`s silence in memory of the Delhi gang-rape victim and expressed solidarity with her grieving family members.
IANS
