The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, which proposes the death penalty for rape convicts, reported The Hindu.
The proposed legislation, tabled by state law minister Moloy Ghatak, is aimed at creating a “safer environment for women and children” by ensuring more stringent punishments for rape and related crimes, according to Live Law.
The bill seeks to amend sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita concerning punishments for acid attacks, rape, rape and murder, gangrape, repeat sex offenders and the disclosure of a rape victim’s identity. It also seeks to do away with the concessions granted to juvenile sex offenders under the law.
The bill was passed amid widespread protests against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead at the medical institute on August 9.
“It is a testament to the state’s unwavering commitment to uphold the fundamental rights of its citizens, particularly women and children, and to ensure that heinous acts of rape and sexual offences against children are met with the full force of the law,” the bill said.
During a discussion on the bill, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs to urge Governor CV Ananda Bose to give his assent to the bill.
“Rape is a curse against humanity and social reforms are required to prevent such crimes,” said Banerjee. “Once this bill is passed, we will form a special Aparajita Task Force from among police to ensure time-bound completion of probe.”
She added: “It is a historic and model bill and any well-meaning person will support it.”
While the Opposition BJP welcomed the bill, it also moved a motion seeking seven amendments to it, reported India Today.
However, the amendments proposed by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari were not accepted. Opposition MLAs subsequently shouted slogans in the House demanding the chief minister’s resignation.
Banerjee responded by demanding the resignations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah.
Later in the day, Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said in a post on X that the Centre “must now take decisive action”.
“Given the harrowing statistic of a rape every 15 minutes, the demand for a comprehensive time-bound anti-rape law is more pressing than ever,” said Abhishek Banerjee.
He added that the Centre must either think about amending the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita or bring an ordinance in the upcoming Parliament session “to ensure that justice is both swift and severe, with trials and convictions concluded in 50 days”.
On July 1, three new criminal laws – the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 – came into effect, replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Mamata Banerjee had earlier written to the prime minister seeking “stringent central legislation” with “exemplary punishment” for rape.
In response, the Centre told the Trinamool Congress chief that the new criminal laws were comprehensive and stringent enough to tackle crimes against women and urged her state government to enforce them in “letter and spirit”.
Also read: Has rape outrage brought us to a dead end?