Madhya Pradesh Assembly Passes Bill Awarding Death Penalty For Rape Of Girls Aged 12 Or Less

Following up on it’s promise of a strong law to curb rapes in the state, the Madhya Pradesh (MP) assembly has unanimously passed a bill to hang rapists of girls aged 12 years or less till death.

Speaking about the bill, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that the people who rape minors weren’t humans and do not have a right to live.

The bill seeks death penalty or a minimum 14 years rigorous imprisonment or life imprisonment for the crime. The bill also proposes a minimum of 20 years rigorous imprisonment for gang-rape of minors makes repeated stalking a non-bailable offence, as reported by The Indian Express.

The bill also sets punishments for disrobing and sex on the pretext of marriage, and prison terms increasing for subsequent offences.

A proposed amendment to the bill states that no bail will be granted for punishment beyond seven years.

The Madhya Pradesh government had recently come in for criticism over increasing incidents of rape in the state. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2015, released in August last year, showed that Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases (4,391) in the country.

The bill, called Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak-2017, will now be sent to the Centre and will need the approval of the President to become a law.