Those committing sex crimes against minors are 'animals', deserve no mercy: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dubbed those committing sexual crimes against minors as animals and decried they deserve no mercy.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy made the remarks while upholding the conviction and 10-year jail sentence for 35-year-old Kuldip Kumar who had sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl in 2010 in a village in Himachal Pradesh, the Times of India reported on Tuesday.

"It is an unpardonable act. Those persons are animals who sexually assault minor girls. They deserve no leniency from courts," the court ruled, striking down the appeal.

The strong remarks from the country's top court have come in the wake of three minors between two and five years being assaulted in the national capital over the past two weeks.

The cases caused outrage among citizens and again led to calls for stringent punishment for those committing such henious crimes.

Also, the Madras High Court has, as per reports yesterday, recommended castration as punishment to child sex abusers.

Justice N Kirubakaran, in a recent order against a British national, made the recommendation to the Centre saying that castration would achieve “magical results” in preventing child abuse.

"Present law is ineffective in dealing with such criminals and judiciary could not keep its hands folded and be a mute spectator, especially when the recent happenings of gang-rape of children across India are reported", the judge said.

"The suggestion to castrate may look barbaric. But barbaric criminals needed barbaric punishment. The very thought of punishment should deter the criminal from committing the offence," the judge observed.