Delhi HC questions child rape ordinance
NEWDELHI: The Delhi high court on Monday questioned the Centre’s rationale in bringing an ordinance to pave the way for stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years, asking if any scientific research was done before changing the law.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mital and Justice C Hari Shankar suggested the manner in which the amendments were brought was not ideal and asked if the “huge consequences” of the changes to the Prevention of Children from Sexual Atrocities (POCSO) Act were considered.
“Is there any scientific study that you have conducted? Has anybody thought of the consequences to the victim? Has anybody asked the victims what they want? Have any of the victims been heard? If the punishment for both murder and rape is same, it will have a huge consequence. How many offenders will leave their victims to survive now that the punishment for murder and rape is the same?” the bench asked.
On Sunday, President Ram Nath Kovind had given his nod to
bringing changes in the POCSO Act after widespread outrage following the rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Jammu’s Kathua and the rape of a teenager in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao.
The court’s remarks came while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Madhu Kishwar, who had challenged the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013, in which a penal provision — minimum of seven years of jail term — for a rape convict was included and the court’s discretion to award less than that was taken away.
“Rape is indeed one of the heinous offences and its widespread occurrence in society is a matter of collective shame for any society. Hence combating the culture which gave rise to rape requires not just effective law but also collective resources of the entire society, especially the moral torchbearers of that society,” the plea had said.
The court, which while questioning the reason for the amendment, remarked that the Centre was “not even looking at the root cause” or “educating people” as the offenders are often found to be below the age of 18 years and in majority of the cases, the perpetrator is someone from the family or known to them.
During the Monday’s proceedings, the Centre informed the court they have brought changes in POCSO Act following which, the death penalty will be given to those convicted of raping a child up to 12 years of age. It also said that those found guilty of raping a girl below 16 years could get life imprisonment.
The court issued notice to the Centre seeking its response on the questions posed and fixed the matter for September 12.