President Pranab Mukherjee

INDIA: PRESIDENT MUKHERJEE APPROVES DEATH PENALTY IN SOME RAPE CASES

February 3, 2013: President of India Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the anti-rape law ordinance after cabinet ministers recommended changes to impose harsher punishments for rapists, including the death penalty.
"The President has given his assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2013," a Home Ministry spokesperson said. "It comes into effect immediately but it will also be tabled before the parliament," added a senior officer in the president's office.
On 2 February, a government-appointed panel – Justice JS Verma Committee – 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 in Delhi on 16 December and died nearly two weeks later.
After the Delhi gang-rape incident, there were vociferous demands for death penalty, but the Verma committee has not favoured it. But the committee had proposed to replace the word 'rape' with 'sexual assault', which will also help to expand the definition of all types of sexual crimes against women.
It also proposed enhanced punishment for other crimes against women like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks, indecent gestures like words and inappropriate touch and brings into its ambit 'marital rape'.
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. Capital punishment is provided in those cases where rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in "persistent vegetative state". In the existing law, a rapist faces a term of seven to 10 years. (Sources: PTI and AFP, 04/02/2013)