Centre approves law providing stringent punishment for rapes

No bail for accused, two-month time limit for investigations

Below 12 Yr: Min 20-yr in jail, extendable to death sentence

Below 16 Yr: Min 20-yr in jail, extendable to life imprisonment

Over 16 Yr: Min RI of 10-yr, extendable to life imprisonment

JAMMU: Responding to the nation-wide outrage over cases of sexual assault and murder of minors in Kathua among other places, with the clamor growing shriller for sterner punishment to rapists, especially those who commit the heinous crime on minor children, the Union Cabinet on Satrurday approved an ordinance which provides for stringent penalties-the harshest ever, including death penalty, for those convicted of rape of girls below 12 years.

The Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance cleared by a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-probably the most significant ever in connection with this regard, new fast-track courts will be set up to deal with such cases and special forensic kits for rape cases will be given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term.

It stipulates stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls below 16 and 12 years. Death sentence has been provided for rapists of girls under 12 years, officials said quoting the ordinance.

The minimum punishment in case of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years, extendable to life imprisonment, they said.

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

The punishment for gang rape of a girl below 16 years will invariably be imprisonment for the rest of life of the convict, the officials said

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, they 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 will stand amended once the ordinance is promulgated after the approval of President Ram Nath Kovind, they said.

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

The deadline for the completion of trial in all rape cases will be two months, the officials said. A six-month time limit for the disposal of appeals in rape cases has also been prescribed.

There will also be no provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of rape or gang rape of a girl under 16 years, the officials said.

It has also been prescribed that a court has to give notice of 15 days to a public prosecutor and the representative of the victim before deciding bail applications in case of rape of a girl under 16 years of age.

Enhancing the powers of the judiciary to provide stringent punishment in rape cases, the Cabinet approved a number of measures, such as strengthening the prosecution, besides setting up new fast-track courts in consultation with the states and high courts concerned.

New posts of public prosecutors will be created and special forensic kits for rape cases given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term, the officials said.

Dedicated manpower will be provided for investigation of rape cases in a time-bound manner, they said quoting the Cabinet decision.

Special forensic labs exclusively for rape cases would also come up in each state, they said.

"These measures will form part of a new mission mode project to be launched within three months," the officials said.

The National Crime Records Bureau will maintain a national database and profile of sexual offenders. This data will be regularly shared with the states and the Union territories for tracking, monitoring and investigation, including verification of antecedents of sex offenders by the police.

The present scheme of 'One Stop Centres' for assistance to victim will also be extended to all districts in the country.

After the Nirbhaya case in December 2012, when the criminal laws were amended, the provision of death penalty in case a woman either died or was left in a "vegetative state" after rape was introduced through an ordinance which later became the Criminal Law Amendment Act.

The government informed the Supreme Court on Friday that it is actively considering amending the law to introduce death penalty for those convicted of sexually abusing children up to 12 years.

"An ordinance today is the best way to deal with the issue. An amendment bill will have to wait (till July) when the Monsoon Session of Parliament commences," a law ministry official said.

In his first comments on the incidents of rape of a 17-year-old in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh and the sexual assault and murder of an eight-year-old girl Kathua in the Jammu region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last week said that no criminal will be spared and daughters will get justice.

"Such incidents shake our sensibilities. I want to assure the nation that no criminal will be spared. Justice will be done. Our daughters will get justice,” he had said.





Mehbooba assures similar laws in J&K

JAMMU: Welcoming the Union Cabinet decision to bring an ordinance to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years of age, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today asserted her governments will bring a similar law in the state.

The Chief Minister also welcomed other stringent amendments brought in relevant laws by the Union Cabinet to ensure speedy investigation and trial in rape cases.

This will go a long way in curbing the level of harassment against women and girl child in the country, Mehbooba said.

She reiterated that her government intends to bring in a similar law in the state to put an end to crimes against women.

On April 12, Mehbooba had said her government would enact a new law to make rape of minors punishable by death, amid outrage over the rape and murder of a minor girl in Kathua district in January.



Father of Kathua girl hopeful now



JAMMU: The father of an eight-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered in Kathua district in January, today expressed hope of getting justice, after the Union Cabinet introduced death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years.

“It is good if the government has passed the ordinance to award death penalty to rape convicts of children below the age of 12 years we are hopeful of getting justice,” the girl's biological father said.

“We are simple people and do not know the nitty-gritty of such decisions,” he said.

However, he said, whatever the government is doing is good and "we are hopeful of getting justice for our child.

He said a child is a child and there is no religion -- Hindu or Muslim -- in his being.
His daughter was found dead in a forest in Kathua district in January, a week after she went missing while grazing horses.