By Hamza Ameer

Islamabad, Sep 15 (IANS): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, while commenting on the recent gang-rape of a women by two men in front of her little kids, said on Monday that rapists should be handed down the most severe punishment to curb rising sexual violence in the country.

Imran Khan went on to elaborate the punishments -- public hanging of rapists or chemically castrating them.

During an interview with a local television channel, the Pakistan premier said that the motorway gang-rape case has "shaken the entire nation".

"I was shocked to find out from the police that sex crimes in the country are increasing greatly," he said.

"The rapists should be given exemplary punishments. In my opinion, they should be hanged at the chowk (main square)," he said, adding that the punishment should be reserved for rapists and those who abuse children.

However, the Prime Minister highlighted that upon discussing this with the cabinet, it was intimated that such a punishment would not be accepted internationally.

"Unfortunately, we had a discussion and we were told it would not be internationally acceptable," Khan said, adding that "GSP-Plus trade status given to us by the European Union will be affected."

Khan said that the country needs a fresh legislation to ensure that there is permanent sterilisation of such criminals.

"One other option can be chemically or surgically castrating the rapists, according to the degree of the crime,"" Khan said, adding that many other countries practice the same punishment for rapists.

Regretting the fact that there is no registry of sex offenders in the country, Khan said that this was the reason why "convicted pedophile from a European country entered into Pakistan and sexually abused children here".

"World history tells that when you increase vulgarity in the society, two things happen: sex crimes increase and the family system breaks down," he said.

The Pakistan premier's comments came at a time when the whole country is bursting with anger over the motorway gang-rape incident, with many blaming the Imran Khan-led government for failing to ensure safety of women in the country.

As per the latest reports, the two rapists named Abid Ali and Waqar ul Hasan have been identified through geofencing and DNA testing. Waqar ul Hasan has been arrested by the police after getting information from his relative Iqrar ul Hasan.

The Punjab government said that a manhunt is underway to track down and nab Abid Ali, claiming that he will be arrested at the earliest.

Pakistani people are demanding public hanging of the rapists with immediate effect.