NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha on Tuesday took up a Bill which provides for stringent punishment for crimes against women including natural life term or even death for repeat offenders of rape besides various penalties for stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks.
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which seeks to replace an Ordinance promulgated on February 3, was moved by home minister Sushilkumar Shinde in the backdrop of national outrage over the Delhi gang rape incident of December 16.
The Bill seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
With an aim of providing a strong deterrent against rapes and gang rapes, the proposed legislation states that an offender can be sentenced to rigourous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 20 years, but which may extend to life, meaning imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life and with a fine.
It has provisions for handing out death sentence to offenders who may have been convicted earlier for such crimes.
Moving the Bill for consideration, Shinde sought the support of all parties, saying "let us honour the braveheart", referring to the 23-year-old victim of ganrape by six persons in the national capital last year.
"Time has come to send out a loud, clear and deterrent signal that the society will not tolerate such errant behaviour," he said, underlining that the Bill was being brought to plug loopholes in the law.
The Bill, for the first time, defines acid attack as a crime and also grants a victim the right to self-defence. It also has provisions for awarding a minimum 10-year jail term for perpetrators of the act.
The amendments seek to make specific provisions for punishment for offences of causing grievous hurt by acid attack and also for such an attempt.
It also seeks to define and prescribe punishment for the offences of stalking, voyeurism and sexual harrassment. The Bill also seeks to widen the definition of rape, broaden the ambit of aggravated rape and enhance the punishment for such crimes.
The Bill also proposes to fix the age of consent for sex at 16 years. However, Shinde moved an amendment to drop this particular clause as decided at an all-party meeting on Monday.
Anti-rape Bill debate in Lok Sabha: Who among us have not followed girls? Sharad Yadav asks
BJP, SP and some others demanded that the age of consent for sex be 18 years and not 16 as envisaged in the ordinance. They contended that since the age of marriage is 18 years, the age of consent should be the same.
The Bill also provides that all hospitals shall immediately provide first aid and/or medical treatment free of cost to the victims of acid attack or rape, and failure to do so will attract punishment.
Anti-rape Bill debate in Lok Sabha: Who among us have not followed girls? Sharad Yadav asks - Times Of India
Woman gang-raped inside lawyer's chamber
NEW DELHI: A woman has alleged that she was raped by four men, including her estranged husband, inside a lawyer's chamber here, police said today.
The victim claimed that the incident took place in a chambers of the lawyer practicing in Patiala court complex.
She claimed that her husband's lawyer called her to the court on pretext of settling her divorce petition.
She claimed her husband and sister-in-law took her to the chamber where she was raped by the lawyer, his assistant and her husband and her husband's brother-in-law.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-19/delhi/37842681_1_chamber-husband-divorce-petition
