Updated By: LatestGKGS Desk
Cabinet agrees to introduce Bill providing death penalty for girl raped below 12 yrs
Union Cabinet agreed to introduce Bill providing death penalty for girl raped below 12 years: Highlights
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared a bill providing for stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years.
Law & IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed that the bill will be introduced in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, once approved by Parliament, will replace the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on 21st April 2018, following the rape and murder of a minor girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and the rape of a woman in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh.
The Bill envisages stringent punishment for rape of girls under 12 years -- minimum 20 years imprisonment and a maximum punishment of either life term or death. In cases of gang-rape of a girl below 12 years, according to the proposal, punishment will be imprisonment for the rest of life or death sentence.
The minimum punishment in case of rape of women has been increased from seven years rigorous imprisonment to 10 years, extendable to life imprisonment.
If rape of a girl under 16 years, minimum punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to imprisonment for rest of the natural life of the convict. The punishment for gang-rape of a girl below 16 years will invariably be imprisonment for the rest of life of the convict.
