Like everybody else, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wants the problem of rape to go away and to achieve this end he has suggested changes in criminal law. He has mooted the death penalty and to prosecute juveniles above the age of 15 as adults. He has appointed a group of ministers to come up with a report in 15 days. We understand and even sympathise with Kejriwal's concern over the rape of two minor girls by two boys aged 16 and 17, but a bull-in-the-china-shop is no way to approach a crime as heinous and complex as rape. Following the gang rape of a student in New Delhi in a bus in 2012 anti-rape laws were tightened and since then quite a few accused have been put behind bars for life. Kejriwal must understand that no matter how stringent the law might be, the police has to follow a painstaking route to gather evidence. This is followed by a court procedure which, at times, might seem long and tedious but it has to adhered to so that guilt is firmly established. Child rights groups are justified in objecting to Kejriwal's suggestion to lower the juvenile age limit simply because there is a great chance that it might not work. There is no short cut and there is no magic wand to bring down the incidence of rape. The journey to a rape-free society, even if it sounds Utopian, is long and torturous. We have to walk shoulder-to-shoulder and refrain for knee-jerk reactions.
