Srinagar, March 1: Traders in old city on Thursday staged protest demanding capital punishment to the accused involved in rape and murder of a Kathua minor girl.
Carrying banners and placards in their hands which read “hang rapist and do justice with minor Asifa” hundreds of traders under the banner of Central Traders and Manufacturers Association (CTMA) held protest at Nowhatta Chowk demanding the government to hang the accused Deepak Khajuria.
The protesting traders criticized the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for befooling people by forming government with communal forces who, they alleged, supported the rapist by taking to the roads.
Demanding capital punishment to the accused, they said the government must treat the guilty at par with 2012 Delhi rape and murder case.
“The accused should be hanged like that of Delhi rape case. I appeal the conscious people of India to raise their voice in favor of the oppressed people of Kathua against whom boycott was announced by the communal forces,” CTMA President Mohammad Shafi said.
He said it is the collective responsibility of the people to demand capital punishment for the accused who did not even consider the age of the poor Muslim girl.
“We don’t play politics on daughters for being raped, but being parents our heart bleeds whenever such gruesome incidents take place anywhere. My question to the Indian media is as to why they have maintained silence over the issue, why don’t they hold debates and invite philosophers and analysts to throw light on the matter,” added traders President.
Traders threatened to intensify the protest in case the guilty SPO was not punished without any foregone conclusion.
The traders before dispersing off threatened the government of dire consequences in case the guilty was spared in any manner.
