In Rajasthan, death penalty for raping girls under 12 years
With this, Rajasthan has become the second state in the country after Madhya Pradesh approving death sentence for those convicted of such rapes.
Jaipur: The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on Friday passed a bill approving death penalty to those convicted of raping or gang-raping a girl up to 12 years of age.
The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill, 2018, was tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday. It seeks to add Section 376-AA to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which also limits sets the minimum punishment for raping girls below 12 years of age as 14 years.
With this, Rajasthan has become the second state in the country after Madhya Pradesh approving death sentence for those convicted of such rapes .
“Whoever commits rape on a woman up to 12 years of age shall be punished with death, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 14 years but which may extend to imprisonment for life which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and shall also be liable to fine,” the amendment said. A similar Section, under Section 376-DD, has been added for gangrape.
Two amendments were made in the bill including that the convict cannot leave the prison for life even after completing 14 years of sentence. “We have made two amendments in the case. Added life sentence & life imprisonment for convicts in offences against girls below 12 years of age, also made a provision that convict can’t leave the prison for life even after completing 14 years of sentence,” said Rajasthan home minister G.C. Kataria.
Rigorous imprisonment would not be less than 20 years and it may be extended to life imprisonment, which means that the convict would serve jail term till death. “Rajasthan has taken initiative to send a message to the society and people that rape with innocent girls would result in death penalty,” Mr Kataria said.
According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) 2016 report, the cases of crimes against children have shown a steady rise in Rajasthan.
The state recorded 4,034 such cases in 2016, which is 3.8 per cent of the crimes against children (98,344) registered across the country. It stands fourth in the crime against women category.