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31 Jul 2018 6:00pm

Death Penalty for Child Rape: Lok Sabha Passes Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2018

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The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill proposing death to child rape convicts. The bill replaces the Criminal Law (amendment) Ordinance promulgated on April 21, following the protests and widespread outrage over the rape and killing of a minor girl in Kathua.

The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.

Rijiju while replying to an over two hour discussion on the measure said,

In recent times, there have been many cases of rape, which has shaken the conscience of this nation. So with a view to bringing in a stringent measure to punish the criminals, the Government had promulgated this Ordinance. Now, to replace that Ordinance the Government is moving this Bill.

While most of the members supported the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2018 and was passed by a voice vote, some of the Opposition members objected to the government adopting the ordinance rather than bringing the bill to Parliament.

Some of other proposed changes in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 are as follows:

  1. The minimum punishment in case of rape of women has been increased from seven years to ten years of rigorous imprisonment, and is extendable to life imprisonment.
  2. The minimum punishment for raping a girl below the age of 16 was 10 years; however, the punishment has been increased to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment under the proposed bill. The punishment may extend to imprisonment for the rest of life.
  3. In case of gang rape of a woman under 16 years of age, the punishment will be imprisonment for the rest of the life of the convict.
  4. Gang rape of a girl below the age of 12 will invite punishment of a jail term for the rest of life or death.
  5. The timeline for disposal of appeals against a rape convict has been fixed at six months.
  6. Anticipatory bail will no longer be granted to a person accused of raping a girl below 16 years.
  7. Regular bail applications for rape convicts can be heard only after fifteen days notice to the public prosecutor.

Tagged: Criminal Law Amendment Death For Child Rape Kiren Rijiju Lok Sabha Kathua
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