Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a bill that has provision to award death sentence to those found guilty of raping girls below 12-year age. The bill will now be sent to the President for his assent, before being enacted.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recent report has placed MP as the state with the maximum number of rape cases in the country.
Apprehending misuse of provisions of the new law and criticising the state government for bringing the bill in a haste because of alarming rise in cases of crime against women, the Congress still supported the bill.
Named as "Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak, 2017", it amended sections, 376 (a)(a) recommending death sentence or a minimum 14 years to life imprisonment for raping a girl aged 12 or less. In cases of gang-rape of minor under Section 376 (b)(a), the government recommended death penalty or minimum 20 years to life in jail.
For crimes registered under Section 493 (a), which includes rape by luring a woman for marriage, the state recommends three years of jail and heavy fine.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said he would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the bill gets Presidential assent. He said that history has been created in Madhya Pradesh after passing the bill.
With the passage of the bill, Madhya Pradesh has become the first state to pass such a bill.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "I know a debate will start in the country after this assembly passes the bill. MP has taken the lead in initiating the debate."
He said that not only minor girls, but even elderly woman over 70 years subjected to rape.
Referring to criticism on bringing a law recommending death sentence, Chouhan said the civil society is for decent people. Using strong Hindi words like "Pishach" and "Nar Pishach" for rapists, the chief minister said he would not even call them animals as it would amount to insulting animal.
"We need to set an example for them. There are some people who refuse to mend their ways. They need to be punished severely," he said.
When more and more girls and women are going out for work, they need to be given a "surakaha kavach," he said. He said in the next session, the government will bring a Jan Suraksha Vidhayak also.
After passing this bill, Chouhan said, the government will launch a movement on morality also. However, he did reveal the details of the movement.
Allaying fears of the opposition about the misuse of the law, Chouhan said he has full faith in the judiciary who would not allow the law to be misused.
He also denied the opposition's allegations that the bill was brought after the incident of MP Nagar when a girl returning from a coaching was raped. "Even before that, I used to talk about the issue," he said.
Earlier, the law and legislative affairs minister Rampal Singh introduced the bill. Supporting and welcoming the bill, the Congress expressed apprehensions over "misuse" of the law.
Congress MLAs Govind Singh, Ramniwas Rawat Shailandra Patel and Parul Sahu and Yashpal Singh Sisodia of BJP among others also participated in the debate on the bill.
(Source: ToI)
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recent report has placed MP as the state with the maximum number of rape cases in the country.
Apprehending misuse of provisions of the new law and criticising the state government for bringing the bill in a haste because of alarming rise in cases of crime against women, the Congress still supported the bill.
Named as "Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak, 2017", it amended sections, 376 (a)(a) recommending death sentence or a minimum 14 years to life imprisonment for raping a girl aged 12 or less. In cases of gang-rape of minor under Section 376 (b)(a), the government recommended death penalty or minimum 20 years to life in jail.
For crimes registered under Section 493 (a), which includes rape by luring a woman for marriage, the state recommends three years of jail and heavy fine.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said he would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the bill gets Presidential assent. He said that history has been created in Madhya Pradesh after passing the bill.
With the passage of the bill, Madhya Pradesh has become the first state to pass such a bill.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "I know a debate will start in the country after this assembly passes the bill. MP has taken the lead in initiating the debate."
He said that not only minor girls, but even elderly woman over 70 years subjected to rape.
Referring to criticism on bringing a law recommending death sentence, Chouhan said the civil society is for decent people. Using strong Hindi words like "Pishach" and "Nar Pishach" for rapists, the chief minister said he would not even call them animals as it would amount to insulting animal.
"We need to set an example for them. There are some people who refuse to mend their ways. They need to be punished severely," he said.
When more and more girls and women are going out for work, they need to be given a "surakaha kavach," he said. He said in the next session, the government will bring a Jan Suraksha Vidhayak also.
After passing this bill, Chouhan said, the government will launch a movement on morality also. However, he did reveal the details of the movement.
Allaying fears of the opposition about the misuse of the law, Chouhan said he has full faith in the judiciary who would not allow the law to be misused.
He also denied the opposition's allegations that the bill was brought after the incident of MP Nagar when a girl returning from a coaching was raped. "Even before that, I used to talk about the issue," he said.
Earlier, the law and legislative affairs minister Rampal Singh introduced the bill. Supporting and welcoming the bill, the Congress expressed apprehensions over "misuse" of the law.
Congress MLAs Govind Singh, Ramniwas Rawat Shailandra Patel and Parul Sahu and Yashpal Singh Sisodia of BJP among others also participated in the debate on the bill.
(Source: ToI)
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