Rape culprits should be disgraced and punished: Arun Jaitley

Culprits of violence against women need to be disgraced along with being punished to cause an "attitude change" in society, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said Monday.

"When we add disgrace along with punishment for those who commit crimes like rape, we will see an attitude change in society," he said at a discussion, organised by party MP Anurag Thakur's Honour Our Women initiative, a year after the brutal rape of a 23-year-old woman here.

The leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha also said "total mental rejection" of culprits of rape was needed, which was lacked in Indian society.

Biju Janata Dal MP Baijayant Panda meanwhile said strengthening judiciary was also needed to ensure the culprits are booked.

"We need to reform the judicial infrastructure, so that cases are fast tracked. For that we also need budget enhancement," he said.

Talking about the rape of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student, that happened on Dec 16 last year, Jaitley said it awakened the conscience of people.

"The only silver lining is it shook the conscience of people, and forced them to act," he said.