The government on Wednesday announced the setting up of a commission of inquiry to identify lapses “on the part of the Delhi police or any other authority or person that contributed to the occurrence of the shocking incident of rape and brutal assault of the 23-year-old gangrape victim and fix responsibility” for it.
The one-person commission, to be headed by former Delhi high court judge, Justice Usha Mehra, will also suggest measures to make Delhi and NCR safer for women. It will submit within three months its report which will be tabled in Parliament along with action taken by the government.
Reacting to string of allegations between the Delhi CM and the police commissioner, finance minister P. Chidambaram said, “I don’t know what happened at the recording of statement. We have the word of the chief minister and we have the word of the commissioner of police. Please exercise restraint, wait for a few days till the result of inquiry comes.” Mr Chidambaram was talking to reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Addressing a press conference along with information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari later, Mr Chidambaram appealed to public to “believe” that steps are being taken to find a lasting solution to the “problem that has plagued all metropolitan cities”.
At Wednesday’s Cabinet meet several ministers expressed anguish at the incident and said the government should walk the extra mile to ensure recovery of the victim and instil a sense of safety among women. Union ministers like Kumari Selja said there was need to provide a sense of safety and security to women, according to sources privy to the deliberations. Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, Mr Tewari and law minister Ashwani Kumar are also learnt to have spoken on the issue. Several ministers were of the view that the government should walk the extra mile in providing the best possible treatment to the rape victim. Mr Pawar wanted to know details about the incident and the action taken so far.
“There are three parts to what we are doing,” said Mr Chidambaram, explaining the government was working on ensuring punishment to the guilty, find out what went wrong and amend laws dealing with crimes against women to provide for more stern penalty and faster trials. Condemning the brutal gangrape incident, Mr Chidambaram, said, “It is a shame. As a man, I feel ashamed. All of you here in this room should also feel ashamed. Why do men behave like this? We acknowledge the public anger and recognise it.”
Mr Tewari, meanwhile, refused to “concede” that the widespread protests, which even turned violent, reflected failure of the leadership. He said it was an emotive issue and the government had no problem with peaceful protests but there should have been no violence.