Stringent anti-rape ordinance gets nod

Green light from President Kovind follows Union Cabinet’s approval

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated the criminal law amendment ordinance yesterday, paving the way for providing stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years.

The President’s nod to the ordinance came after the Union Cabinet’s approval on Saturday for tightening the law against accused rapists, after public outcry over cases of sexual assault and murder of minors in Kathua and Surat and the rape of a girl in Unnao.

“Whereas Parliament is not in session and the President is satisfied that the circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action.

“Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 123 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to promulgate the following ordinance,” the gazette notification said.

The ordinance stipulates stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls younger than 16 and 12. Rapists of girls under 12 are to get the death penalty.

The minimum punishment for rape of women has been increased from a imprisonment of seven years to 10, extendable to life imprisonment.

Amended

According to the ordinance, in case of rape of a girl under 16, the minimum punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to life imprisonment until the end of the convict’s “natural life”. The punishment for gang rape of a girl younger than 16 will invariably be imprisonment for the rest of the convict’s life.

Stringent punishment for rape of a girl under 12 years has been provided with the minimum jail term being 20 years which may go up to life in prison or the death sentence. The penalty for gang rape of a girl under 12 is jail term for the rest of life or death of the convict, it said.

The Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Evidence Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act stand amended with the promulgation of the ordinance after the approval of the President. ■