Many people, mostly the young, gathered en masse outside the Mongolia’s parliament in Ulaanbaatar on Saturday to demand tighter laws and preventative measures to combat child abuse following the recent rape of a minor. On Tuesday, M.Enkhbold, Speaker of Parliament, held a meeting with the organisers of the demonstration against child abuse. During their discussion, several women noted that reported cases of rape have increased over the last three years, 46 percent of all rape cases being child victims! They handed their demands to the Speaker to amend the Criminal Law.

A total of 15590 people signed a petition during the demonstration in which nearly 20,000 people participated.

Representatives of the parents said, they will not support the President’s recent initiative for restoring capital punishment for child rapists. Instead, they demand life imprisonment for such criminals with no possibility of amnesty.