Death penalty for rapists will delay the process of justice and instead the need of the hour is to ask for certainty of punishment, feels noted actress Shabana Azmi. Speaking at a workshop on gender sensitisation, the 61-year-old former Parliamentarian said delay in implementation of the law is the real challenge faced in the country today. "Laws by themselves cannot change anything.

We need laws to be implemented, we need firm investigation, speedy justice and we need to ensure that it is not the severity of the punishment but certainty of the punishment," she said. "There is great hue and cry for death penalty for rapists but people who deal with law say in cases of rape it has taken 10 years and even more before culprits are booked." "In the case of death penalty, such stringent evidence is required before it is awarded. It will retard the process of justice. We do not have to ask for death penalty but certainty in punishment," she said.

The veteran cine star also stressed on bringing about a change in the mindset of the society by providing right form of education.  "I was going though some questions in textbooks for a 3-year-old which had some typical questions and answers. The question was 'Where is the father' and the answer is 'He is in the office'... The next question is 'Where is the mother' and the answer is 'She is in the kitchen'. So why are we making it in the head of the child something that role plays will happen according to the gender."