The Parliament on August 6 passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018 with the Rajya Sabha clearing it by a voice vote. The bill ensures stringent punishment for those convicted of raping girls below 12 years of age.The bill was passed by Lok Sabha last month.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju reportedly said, “Both houses of the Parliament have passed Criminal Law Amendment Bill and now we will ensure that this act takes effect in the manner in which it has been envisaged. There are various other steps taken to ensure speedy trial.”
The amendment came in wake of steep increase in incidents of rape of minors.
Updates:
The bill replaces the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on April 21, 2018, by President Ram Nath Kovind. The bill stipulates stringent punishment for perpetrators of rape, particularly of girls below 12 years and the death sentence has been provided for rapists of girls under 12 years.
The Bill stipulates a minimum jail term of 20 years which may go up to life in prison or death sentence, for the rape of a girl under 12 years.
In the case of gangrape of a girl below 12 years of age, proprietors will get life imprisonment or death.
In case of rape of a girl below 16 years, the minimum punishment has been increased from 10 to 20 years and it is extendable to life imprisonment also.
The punishment for the gangrape of a girl below 16 years of age will invariably be imprisonment for the rest of the life of the convict.
The cabinet also decided to put in place a number of measures for speedy trial and investigation of rape cases.
According to the Bill, the fast-track special courts will be set up to exclusively deal with rape cases.
According to Bill Woman judge will hear the rape case and a woman police officer will record the statement of rape victims.
After the horror house incident of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, a similar case has emerged from Uttar Pradesh (UP) where 24 girls have been rescued from a shelter home in Deoria district on August 6, after found to be allegedly involved in human trafficking.
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She lost Rio Olympic final, then Hong Kong Open final twice in 2017 and 2018, Super Series Final 2017, Indian Open and Thailand Open finals in 2018 and now this Golden Girl of Indian Badminton PV Sindhu once again fails to clinch World title as she lost to Carolina Marin of Spain 19-21, 10-21 in 46 minutes in the women’s singles final of the BWF World Badminton Championships 2018 at Nanjing, China on Sunday. Sindhu, lost in the finals last year also but then he r opponent was Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, whom she beat here in quarter finals. After the match Sindhu said, “It is frustrating to lose in the final again. I will have to come back stronger and prepare for the next tournament”.
