Calls by parliamentarians for public lynching and castration of those accused of barbaric crimes like rape and murder militate against the first principles of the rule of law, Congress leader and former law minister Ashwani Kumar has said.

“The case of rape and brutal murder of a doctor in Hyderabad is an act of barbarity and deserves the most unreserved condemnation. The nation’s conscience is rightly outraged raising several pertinent questions, including the efficacy of stringent criminal laws to check crimes against women,” Kumar said in a statement on Tuesday.

“However, calls by parliamentarians for public lynching and castration of the accused is a constitutional affront and militate against the first principles of the rule of law. Such calls of retribution unknown to civilised societies and constitutional democracies do no justice to the duties of law makers,” he said.

Kumar’s statement came a day after several MPs, adding to their voice to the chorus of condemnation of the atrocity in Hyderabad, called for steps such as public lynching and castration of the Hyderabad accused.

“We know from experience that draconian laws, oppressively applied do not yield justice nor is a legitimate sense of outrage a justification for bypassing settled processes of law. Such statements could lead the populace to taking law into their own hands, a potent recipe for anarchy”, the former minister said.

“As a nation we need to deliberate comprehensively on the way forward to ensure the elimination of heinous crimes against women, remembering that laws justly and fairly applied will alone yield justice,” Kumar added.