Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) : Veteran social worker Anna Hazare on Tuesday demanded the hangman’s noose for all the accused in the brutal gang rape and inhuman murder of a minor schoolgirl in Kopardi village here last week.

In a statement, Hazare condemned the incident which he described as “extremely shocking and a dark blot on humanity”.

“The perpetrators of this crime deserve to be severely punished and they must be hanged. This would serve as an example to others,” Hazare said.

The 79-year old anti-corruption crusader said that in recent times, people have been campaigning against the capital punishment for criminals in the name of humanity.

“There is no point in showing any mercy towards those who have blackened the face of humanity itself in such incidents,” Hazare said.

Welcoming the proposed appointment of Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam to fight the case in a fast track court, Hazare said the government must make all-out efforts and ensure the culprits are punished at the earliest.

He expressed concerns over the growing insecurity women encounter in our society and urged the police and the government to remain ever vigilant and prevent such recurrences.

On July 13 in Kopardi, the family of a 14-year-old schoolgirl found her badly mutilated, blood-splattered body under a tree in a field sending shockwaves across the state.

She was brutally gang raped by at least three persons, her teeth and arms were broken, flesh from all over her body was ripped off, her hair were pulled out, and she was strangulated to death.

The incident sparked off a major political controversy in Maharashtra with the opposition, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in the monsoon session of the assembly that started here on Monday.

Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police Saurabh Tripathi said three persons were arrested and police teams were trying to track down others who may be involved.

They were identified as Jitendra, Nitin G. Bhailume and Santosh G. Bhaval, Tripathi said. The police were searching for at least two other accomplices.

The trio was produced before a local court and remanded in police custody for seven days each.

In view of the statewide uproar, Hazare has advised all political parties not to create controversies, view the sad incident on humanitarian grounds and also provide social support and security to the aggrieved family.