Hyderabad, Apr 22 (DC): CPM leader Brinda Karat on Saturday accused the BJP of preparing bands of men who are “rapist rakshaks”.

Reacting to the Union Cabinet approving an ordinance on the death penalty for those convicted of raping children, she said, it was an attempt to divert the attention from the government protecting rapists of eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of ongoing 22nd national convention of CPM in the city, Ms Karat said, “We have heard about gau rakshaks and criminal activities which they indulged in. Today, the BJP is preparing and has prepared bands of men who are rapist rakshaks. Penalty should be there for those protecting the rapists.”

She added, “In principle, the CPM is against death penalty. However, in this context the actual problem is not that there is no death penalty on statute books. The actual issue is that those in government are defending the rapists,” she said.

Ms Karat alleged the ordinance was an attempt to divert attention from the grievous nature of assault on the basic judicial processes.

“I am afraid this has very little credibility because what is required is certainty of punishment. The Ordinance is not addressing the issue which is agitating the minds of people,” she added. The meeting passed a resolution strongly condemning the horrific rapes of minors in Kathua and Unnao.

“The shame of Kathua is that the victim was selected based on her religion and accused were protected because of their religion. Top BJP leaders came on to the streets to defend the rapists,” she said.

The Marxist leader said that the national outrage made Prime Minister Narendra Modi break silence but it was too little, too late and it insulted memory of the child and the family of the victim.

Replying to a query, she said that while the CPM doesn't see incidents of rapes and sexual assault in terms of religion of the victims, in the case of Kathua, the fact is that the victim was selected because of her religion.