Sushil Kumar wants fast-track courts to punish rapists in 2 months

Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won a bronze and a silver in the 2008 Olympics and the 2012 London Games respectively, was angered at the rising crimes against women in the recent past and stressed on the importance of introducing stricter laws to ensure that the rapists were given the harshest punishment as soon as possible. India has been jolted by a number of rape cases in the recent past, with two separate incidents in Unnao and Hyderabad jolting the nation as the victims were set ablaze after the heinous crime.

Speaking to Republic TV, the 36-year old stated that he was not only angered but also pained and sad to see the behaviour towards women. "It's not just my anger. The incidents that happened in Unnao and Hyderabad has triggered outrage and anger among people. I am extremely pained and sad." Highlighting the importance of setting up fast track courts to ensure that the culprits are punished within two months of the atrocious act, Sushil Kumar further said, "A fast track court should be set up and the culprits should be punished within two months because people want immediate decision and punishment and they do not want police to take the law into their hands. People want everything to be done within the framework of the law."

Terming the rape cases as "barbaric", the wrestler, who has been in the news for his run-ins with fellow wrestlers in the recent past, hoped that India returns to being a country safe for women and its children.

"Rapists and all the perpetrators of major crimes should be dealt with by fast track Court through strictest laws. So there will be fear factor. Every day there are new incidents of crime. How big and shameful matter is this that someone is first raped and then burnt alive. A family after so much of hardship prepares their daughter in the medical field and then one day there is this news that their daughter have been burnt alive. So just feel how it would been for them," referring to the unfortunate demise of veterinarian doctor Priyanka Reddy in Hyderabad.

According to figures, the police registered 33,658 cases of rape in India in 2017 alone - an average of 92 rapes a day. The Indian courts disposed of only 18,300 cases that year, leaving more than 127,800 cases pending for 2018.