The Congress Friday demanded that the rape case of Muzaffarnagar resident Imrana be judged under criminal law even as the National Commission for Women (NCW) said the victim should be heard in a fast-track court.

The Congress said that the personal law of any religion becomes irrelevant in a rape case.

"It is (a case of) barbaric rape of a young woman, who is a mother of five children. This is a heinous crime that we condemn unequivocally and demand stringent punishment against the guilty," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said here.

As per an edict of the Darul Uloom (school of Islamic thoughts) at Deoband, Imrana has been asked to lead a separate life from her husband as "punishment" after being raped, allegedly by her father-in-law.

The Congress' new line is in sharp contrast to the stand of its senior Uttar Pradesh leader Salman Khurshid. Referring to the Darul Uloom's decision, Khurshid had said that the law of the land, which supports the personal law, should be approved though he condemned the Deoband's edict.

"The Congress is of the firm view that such barbaric and heinous crime should be punished under the (criminal) law," Singhvi said. He criticised the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for "attempting to politicise" the issue.

Meanwhile, the NCW, which had sent a team to meet Imrana Thursday, asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to ensure that the case was heard in a fast-track court.

Singh has supported the view of Darul Uloom but the Communist Party of India-Marxist disagreed with him, saying that the "act of barbarity" on Imrana was "deplorable".