Justice prevailed! Parliament unanimously passes the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill asserting stringent punishment in rape cases

New Delhi, August 7: Hailing justice to all the women and girls, the Parliament on Monday passed the historic bill citing death penalty to those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years and making the law against such sexual offenses harsher.

The stringent legislation bill replaces the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on April 21, 2018. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2018, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 30, was approved by a voice vote in the Upper House.

Terming the bill as one of national importance, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the law is aimed at providing safety to minor girls as he highlighted various aspects of the measure. Stating in the discussion led in the upper House, Kiren Rijiju said that the provisions made in the Bill were relevant and appealed to the members to unanimously pass the Bill. He said the government brought the bill, as in the last few months, several heart-rending incidents of rape of under- aged girls have taken place in the country.

 

Rijiju further emphasized on the elements of the bill stating that four states had already brought a law in their respective assemblies for capital punishment to those who commit rape against the girl child who is under the age of 12. The states are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Minister of State for Home said, “We have introduced certain changes in the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Court Procedure, Evidence Act and there are consequential effects on the prevention of atrocities against children”.

 

The bill stipulates stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls below 12 years. The death sentence has been provided for rapists of girls less than 12 years. The minimum punishment in cases of rape of women has been increased from the rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years.

 

According to the bill, in 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”.

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 death sentence. Gangrape of a girl under 12 years of age will invite punishment of jail term for the rest of life or death.

 

The measure also provides for speedy investigations and trial. The time limit for the investigation of all cases of rape has been prescribed, which has to be mandatorily completed within two months.