Death for child rape but what about…

Parliament has passed a stringent legislation prescribing death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 and making the law against such sexual offences harsher. The Bill replaces the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on April 21, following an outcry over the rape-cum-murder of a minor girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir.

At the same time, the minimum punishment in cases of rape of women has been increased from seven rigorous imprisonment to 10.

In the case of rape of a girl under 16 years, the minimum punishment has been increased from 10 to 20 years, extendable to imprisonment for rest of life, which means jail term till the convict's "natural life".

Participating in the debate, several members made a case for sending the Bill for scrutiny to Select Committee, saying there were several shortcomings in it. Some members argued that the provision of death penalty could affect reporting of cases of sexual assault as in many cases the accused happened to be relatives or known persons. There was also an opinion that the provision of death penalty could endanger the life of the victim.

Many members suggested that the government change the term 'woman' in the Bill appropriately and make it genderneutral as such crimes do happen with boys as well.