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Inaugurating a fast-track court that will try the accused in the case ofgangrape-cum-murder of aDelhi girl, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir on Wednesday cautioned against lynch-mob mentality and promised swift justice in cases ofsexual offencesagainst women.

"It is good to know that after this rather tragic incident of December 16, people have started raising their voices against certain crimes against society, against crime against women. But the immediate reaction of people has been that don't put these persons to trial, hand them over to us, we will deal with them, hang them.

"Now these kinds of sentiments, which are emotional, are rather dangerous sentiments. But these emotions will continue until the matter comes to us and we deal with them expeditiously," Justice Altamas Kabir said inaugurating the first of the five fast-track courts that will hear cases of sexual offences against women in the national capital.

The FTC, inaugurated by the CJI in Saket court complex in South Delhi in the presence of Delhi High Court Chief Justice D Murugesan, will conduct the trial of the accused in the gangrape of a Delhi girl who also suffered a brutal assault that led to her death in a Singapore hospital last week.

Justice Kabir said, "Let us not lose sight of the fact that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Let us balance things. Let us not get carried away. Provide justice in a fair but swift manner so that faith of people is once again restored that the judiciary is there behind the common man. These kinds of crimes, which have been on an upswing, will be taken care of."

Stressing that December 16 incident of gangrape of the 23-year-old student was not an isolated incident and such crimes are happening everywhere, Justice Kabir said to address such crimes one has to understand what a woman goes through in such cases.

Addressing the judicial officers, he said, "Such crimes are not against the body of a woman but her soul."

"The incident of December 16 is not an isolated incident. Such matters are happening everyday. Even on that day itself, while the headline showed this particular case, on the third or fourth page of a newspaper, there was a little article of about six lines or eight lines that a ten-year old Delhi girl was gangraped and then set on fire," he said stressing upon the need for fast-tracking all such cases of sexual offences.

"That did not capture the attention of people. This case did. Why is it that certain cases catch the attention? These are all equally reprehensible. Imagine a six-month-old baby being raped. It's a small item in the newspaper and then it is taken away," he said.

Promising swift justice, the CJI said, "I on my part will try my level best that the part of the case on administration side is taken care of and the things are done expeditiously in a fashion where the things can be brought to the court as expeditiously as possible."

He also said "One has to understand the trauma a woman goes through, and this has been repeatedly said in our judgements, when she is forced against her will."

"It is not a crime against body but the soul itself. If the soul of the woman has to be saved one has to understand the psychology," he said.