 |
| Photo: AP |
People crowd outside the Presidential Palace
as they protest against a brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old student, in New
Delhi, India.
India's president on Sunday approved harsher
punishments for rapists, including the death penalty, after a brutal gang-rape
in New Delhi sparked national outrage and triggered demands for tougher laws.
 |
| Photo: Showkat Shafi |
President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to
the new rape law two days after cabinet ministers recommended changes to
improve safety for women.
"The Indian president has given his
assent to the ordinance on crime against women. It comes into effect
immediately but it will also be tabled before the parliament," a senior
officer in the president's office told AFP.
 |
| Photo: Showkat Shafi |
A government-appointed panel and the cabinet
had recommended tougher laws after the death of a 23-year-old woman who was
savagely raped and attacked in a bus on December 16 and died nearly two weeks
later.
Under the changes, the minimum sentence for
gang-rape, rape of a minor, rape by policemen or a person in authority will be
doubled to 20 years from 10 and can be extended to life without parole.
In the existing law, a rapist faces a term of
seven to 10 years
People crowd outside the Presidential Palace
as they protest against a brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old student, in New
Delhi, India.
India's president on Sunday approved harsher
punishments for rapists, including the death penalty, after a brutal gang-rape
in New Delhi sparked national outrage and triggered demands for tougher laws.
President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to
the new rape law two days after cabinet ministers recommended changes to
improve safety for women.
"The Indian president has given his
assent to the ordinance on crime against women. It comes into effect
immediately but it will also be tabled before the parliament," a senior
officer in the president's office told AFP.
A government-appointed panel and the cabinet
had recommended tougher laws after the death of a 23-year-old woman who was
savagely raped and attacked in a bus on December 16 and died nearly two weeks
later.
Under the changes, the minimum sentence for
gang-rape, rape of a minor, rape by policemen or a person in authority will be
doubled to 20 years from 10 and can be extended to life without parole.
In the existing law, a rapist faces a term of
seven to 10 years.
The cabinet has also created a new set of
offences such as voyeurism and stalking that will be included in the new law.
But women rights activists have slammed the
ordinance saying it lacks teeth to fight sexual crimes against women and lashed
out at the government for passing the law without holding a debate or
discussion.
Five men are being tried in a special
fast-track court in New Delhi on charges of murder, gang-rape and kidnapping in
connection with the death of the student, who died from her injuries in a
Singapore hospital where she had been sent for further treatment.
A sixth suspect faces trial in a juvenile
court.
The physiotherapy student was assaulted on a
bus she had boarded with a male companion as they returned home from watching a
film in an upmarket shopping mall.
India says it only imposes the death penalty
in the "rarest of rare cases". Three months ago, it hanged the lone
surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks - the country's first
execution in eight years.
Meanwhile noted criminal lawyer
Kamini Jaiswal favours death sentence for rapists, she felt that catching the
right people was as important.
From: The New Zealand Herald
Mecca Time
Bergen Time
Auckland
0 comments:
Post a Comment