Cabinet Approves Ordinance On Death Penalty For Those Convicted Of Raping Children Below 12 Years

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved an Ordinance on death penalty for those found guilty of raping a child up to 12 years of age, Hindustan Times has reported.

To introduce the new provision for such crimes, the ordinance seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Evidence Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to reports, the government has also decided to put in place some measures for speedy investigation and trial of rape cases.

The development comes amid outrage over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and a number of other cases involving children in the last few weeks. Three such incidents - one in Uttar Pradesh, the second in Chhattisgarh and the third in Odisha - have been reported in the past few weeks.

In the last few years, four states passed laws introducing death penalty for child rapists. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Madhya Pradesh was the first to bring a bill to award capital punishment to those convicted of raping girls aged 12 and below last year. Rajasthan, another state ruled by the BJP, was the second to pass a bill on death penalty for child rapists.

The Centre had told the Supreme Court On Friday that it is actively considering amending the penal law to introduce death penalty to those convicted of sexually abusing children below 12 years of age.

An ordinance today is the best way to deal with the issue. An amendment bill will have to wait (till July) for the Monsoon session," a law ministry official had said.