New Delhi, December 14: Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal on Saturday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate implementation of the Disha Bill across the country. She was demanding PM Modi to speed up the process and act in line up with Andhra Pradesh which approved the Disha Act -- providing death sentences to convicts in rape cases within 21 days.

Sitting on a hunger strike for over 10 days now protesting against rape incidents, Maliwal's letter reads, "If the Andhra Government can take this historic decision (of passing Disha Bill), why can’t the Central Government show the same urgency and concern. I fervently appeal to you to immediately enact the Disha Bill for the entire country." Andhra Pradesh Assembly Passes Disha Bill to Award Death Sentence for Rape Offences.

Here is the ANI tweet:

Adding on, the letter said, "Today, lives of hundreds of our daughters and sisters are being ravaged everyday. I myself am on an indefinite hunger strike demanding a fixed framework for punishments to rapists." Shw applauded the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and wrote, "The Disha Bills are a game-changer for ensuring justice in crime against women."

Here is Swati's letter to PM Modi:

Earlier on Friday, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly passed the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2019 or Andhra Pradesh Disha Act that seeks to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure for 'heinous offences of rape' so that in the presence of 'adequate conclusive evidence', the investigation is completed within seven working days. According to the Act, trial must be completed within 14 working days, thus reducing the total judgment time to 21 working days.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2019 04:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).