Farooq wants death penalty for rapists

Srinagar, April 15 (IANS) National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Sunday demanded a special Jammu and Kashmir Assembly session to pass a bill to hand out capital punishment to those convicted of raping minors.

"The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which are in power in the state, should convene a special session to pass the bill," the Lok Sabha member said.

"It is only by awarding capital punishment to perpetrators of such heinous crime that incidents like Kathua rape and murder can be prevented from occurring in future," the former Chief Minister said.

Chief Minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has already said that Jammu and Kashmir will soon pass a bill to award death sentence to those who rape minors.