After a series of gang-rape incidents across India, President Pranab Mukherjee has approved the ordinance on sexual assault, which has the provision of death penalty for cases of rape that lead to the victim’s death or push her into a persistent vegetative state. The ordinance sought to treat such case as a crime belonging to the “rarest-of-rare” category for which courts can award death punishment if they so decide. For such cases, the ordinance proposes a minimum sentence of 20 years which can be extended to imprisonment until the natural life of the convict, or death. The changed law will now treat voyeurism, stalking, disrobing of women and acid attacks as specific offences under the Indian Penal Code. The change will raise ‘eve-teasing’ from being considered a minor offence to a serious crime attracting enhanced punishment.
Human rights activists in almost all countries plead death for rapists and most of the countries, like India, have already included capital punishment in their criminal procedural laws. Of late there had been critical debate in the western media questioning the death penalty to a rapist in Islam, calling it cruel and against the human rights. But given the intensity of this crime, the same human rightists have now come to the similar conclusion that even one count of capital punishment is not enough.
Unfortunately, for the last five years there had been no executions despite courts awarding death penalties. Hundreds of criminals have not been hanged including those involved in acts of terrorism. There had been a campaign by the world HR bodies for abolition of death penalty, in sharp contrast to a rising demand that the Pakistan Parliament and subsequently the President of Pakistan should approve a law, emulating the Indian amendment in their penal laws so that the women as well as their honour and dignity are protected.
