Cabinet set to clear death for child rape, new law on fugitives
Currently, the maximum punishment for aggravated sexual assault on minors under the POCSO Act is life imprisonment. The law came into force in 2012 and deals with sexual offences against those below the age of 18 years. The Indian Penal Code, however, prescribes death penalty for gang rape.
“Any offence that falls in the rarest of rare category attracts death penalty. What can be more depraved and heinous, more rarest of rare crime than raping a child?” asked Supreme Court advocate Amit Anand Tiwari.
The Rajasthan government recently approved a bill seeking death penalty for those convicted of raping girls under the age of 12 years. Two other BJPruled states, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, have also given the go-ahead for a similar proposal.
According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, 43.2% of rape cases in India in 2016 involved girls under the age of 18 years. The proportion rose from 32.8% in 2015.
The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, which is pending in Parliament, is a showpiece draft legislation of the Narendra Modi government that aims to impound and sell assets of fugitives who have perpetrated economic crimes.
The law will apply to defaulters who have an outstanding of Rs 100 crore or more and have left the country. It proposes to enable authorities to attach the property of these “fugitive economic offenders” and proceeds of crime.
The Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha on March 12 provides for “measures to deter fugitive economic offenders from evading the process of law in India by staying outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts, to preserve the sanctity of the rule of law in India and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.
The bill comes after several widely publicised instances of economic offenders fleeing the jurisdiction of Indian courts, anticipating the commencement of criminal proceedings or sometimes during the pendency of such proceedings. Mallya, for instance, fled India before a key ruling by a debt court.
The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in the budget session but with the second leg of the session lost to disruptions, it could not be passed.
Rajat Mitra, a clinical psychologist, said that although it was difficult to comment on this particular case without interacting with the woman, “delusions and hallucinations” have previously been known to prompt similar violent crimes. “People do not necessarily have to have a history of mental illness or violence to commit such a crime,” said Mitra.
The couple lived with their three children in a multi-storey building they own in Aman Vihar’s Prem Nagar neighbourhood. Their two daughters, aged seven and two, mostly stay with their grandparents in the same neighbourhood.
On Thursday night, Sarika and her son were alone at home. Shankar was away at the local flea market where he sells clothes.
The crime came to light when Shankar returned home around 1.30 am. When repeated knocks went unanswered, he kicked open the door.
“My son’s head was lying on the floor and his torso was on the bed. My wife was unconscious and was resting her head on my child’s chest,” said Shankar, who immediately raised an alarm, rousing his relatives and neighbours.
“Sarika was in a subconscious state when the police took her away. She did not speak a word,” said Bhola Rai, her brother-inlaw.
THE KILLING PROMPTED THE WOMAN’S HUSBAND TO SUSPECT THAT THE SEEMINGLY NATURAL DEATH OF ANOTHER SON OF THE COUPLE FOUR YEARS AGO TOO WAS MURDER