Gangrape case: Sonia speaks to PM, seeks swift action

As protests over the horrendous gangrape incident intensified, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking for swift and immediate action in the case.

She also wanted the prime minister to ask the home minister to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect the victim, who is undergoing treatment in a Delhi hospital.

With the incident fuelling widespread outrage, Gandhi is learnt to have stressed for "action with immediate effect". Her telephonic conversation with the prime minister follows two strongly-worded letters from her to Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit on December 18.

In her letter to Shinde, the Congress president had said, "It is a shame for us, who are responsible for the security of our cities that a young woman can be raped in a moving bus in the capital of the country and flung on to the street."

She had also noted with concern that it was a "matter of shame" that such incidents happen with painful regularity.

Gandhi had also visited the Safdarjung Hospital the same day to inquire about the condition of the 23-year-old victim, who was in a critical state, after Sunday night's incident.

In the letters, Gandhi had sought "strictest possible measures" to ensure that there is no recurrence of such a barbaric crime.

The Congress leader said in her letter to Dikshit that "such violence and criminality needs not only to be condemned, it calls for a concerted effort to fight it."

Describing the incident as a "monstrous crime", Gandhi said this deserves not only universal condemnation but also the "government's most urgent attention".

"It is imperative that the police and other agencies concerned are sensitised to the dangers that our daughters, sisters and mothers face everyday. The security agencies must be motivated, trained and equipped to deal with the menace. I hope you will initiate immediate action to remedy the situation," Gandhi told the home minister.