Will hanging convicts decrease rate of rape cases, asks Aparna Sen

Kolkata, Dec 03: As the outrage over the Hyderabad rape-murder case continues to grow in the country, with common people and politicians seeking death for the accused, eminent filmmaker Aparna Sen wondered if hanging the perpetrators would lead to a substantial fall in number of such crimes.

Sen's comments were made in the wake of Rajya Sabha MPs demanding death penalty, lynching and castration as punishment for the four accused in the case.

"The perpetrators of (Hyderabad woman's) rape and murder will probably be hanged. The whole country is baying for their blood, and with due cause. It is the most horrific of crimes. But then what? There won't be any more rapes? The rate of rape will substantially decrease?" she tweeted on Monday.

On Facebook and Twitter, netizens have also sought public hanging, mutilation and castration for rape-murder convicts.

A section of women suggested that polls be boycotted, if swift punishment was not meted out to rapists.

The charred body of a 25-year old woman, who worked as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital, was found under a culvert in Shadnagar in Hyderabad on November 28, a day after she went missing.

Four men, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on November 29 on charges of raping and killing the woman and had been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.