Shivraj Singh Chouhan thanks CJI for taking cognizance of rape and murder cases of minors, urges for expeditious trial

New Delhi: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday thanked Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi for taking cognizance of cases of rapes and murders of girls. “I thank you for taking cognizance of a sensitive issue like rape and murder of girl child. I welcome your this step from the core of my heart. The entire country is upset with such incidents,” Chouhan said in a letter to the CJI. [caption id=“attachment_4327217” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. PTI[/caption] The former chief minister in his letter said, “In Madhya Pradesh, there are provisions that those guilty of raping and murdering girl child (up to 12 years of age) are liable to be hanged. 27 such people have been convicted and sentenced to death. However, these sentences have not been carried out till now due to a long procedure involving High Court, Supreme Court and mercy petition before the President. So, it is not resulting in fear that it should have caused,” the former chief minister added. He urged for speedy trial of such cases in a time-bound manner. “It is the will of the people that people committing such heinous acts to be hanged. It is hoped from you that such people will be sentenced to death soon,” Chouhan said in the letter.