Death penalty for rape of children below 12: Union Cabinet

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It seems like the crime of raping a child below the age of 12 will now attract the death penalty. In a landmark move, the Union Cabinet, in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the ordinance on the death penalty for those convicted of raping children below the age of 12. The decision came a day after the Ministry of Women and Child Development told the Supreme Court that it was proposing the death penalty for those convicted of raping children.

The Ministry had told the apex court that the government was "sensitive to the plight of young children" brutally abused in the most horrific manner, and proposed to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by introducing the death penalty to the convicts of child rapes.

The Cabinet move came in the backdrop of nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, and other instances in different parts of the country including a nine-year-old girl in Surat. The POCSO Act was formulated in order to effectively address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children.

Kathua rape case:
An eight-year-old girl was brutally raped by six men, held captive, sedatated, raped again and then bludgeoned to death. Reports stated that the details of the gory crime were a part of the charge sheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Crime Branch. The 15-page charge sheet Jammu and Kashmir Police's Crime Branch also stated that the abduction, rape and killing of the Bakherwal girl was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area. After the case came to light, people around the country mourned the loss of the child and condemed the act, asking for strict punishment for offenders in such gruesome acts.

Unnao rape case:
The matter first came to light when a 17-year-old girl and her father attempted to commit suicide outside the home of Yogi Adityath alleging that a BJP MLA and his brother had raped the woman. They added that no action was taken against the accused. Later that day, the girl's father was allegedly arrested and beaten by the police, and he eventually succumbed to his injuries the following day. The incident left the nation in shock, demanding justice for the aggrieved woman.

Also read: Kathua Rape And Murder Case: How The Gruesome Sexual Crime Against The 8-Yr-Old Was Committed

(mid-day online desk, with inputs from PTI)

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