Not enough I say!

Shoe-beating, apology enough for rapist in UP
Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui | TNN

Lucknow: While women’s organisations are crying hoarse demanding capital punishment for rapists, a panchayat in Muzaffarnagar believes that giving a beating with shoes and a written apology are enough punishment for the crime.
That was the verdict they passed on Thursday while trying accused Surendra from Kallanpur under Shakharpur village. According to reports, on Wednesday Surendra allegedly raped his cousin’s wife. The victim’s mother-in-law approached the panchayat, which held court following an independent probe.
The panchayat ordered that the accused should be beaten with shoes and then he should apologise to the victim. Later, the panchayat prepared a compromise pact and got thumb impressions of the victim, accused, witnesses and panchayat members. The pact read that the complainant had a petty dispute with the accused which was sorted out before the panchayat. A copy of the pact was handed over to the local police.
The police admitted to having received a compromise pact. But they denied that it was a rape case. “Apas ka jhagra tha... ladke ka haath chu gaya tha us aurat ke... bus, (The boy touched the woman by mistake and that was it),’’ said the Purquazi SHO over the phone. But he banged the phone when asked as to how many similar complaints—where someone had touched a woman by mistake—were lodged with the police station every month.