Arunachal 4th state to prescribe death for raping sub-12 girls

ITANAGAR, Mar 16: Arunachal Pradesh on Friday became the fourth state after Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana to prescribe death penalty for those convicted of raping girls under 12 years.

The state Assembly passed the Criminal Laws (Arunachal Pradesh) Amendment Bill 2018 for “dealing with an iron hand” any form of violence against women and children. This is the outcome of a relentless effort by the Pema Khandu government.

Three back to back cases of minors being raped in Tezu, Daporijo and Yingkiong in 10 days in February had rocked the frontier state as demands were made by the public and civil societies to take strong measures to protect children from such heinous crimes.

The Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society (APWWS) and various other organisations of the state had also sought that the government take strong action and expedite all the cases so that justice is delivered at the earliest to the families of the young girls.

The bill seeks to amend, among others, section 354, 354 (B), 354 (D) of Indian Penal Code for harsher punishment for outraging the modesty of women by adding 7-10 years to existing provisions for imprisonment and increasing fine up to Rs 1-lakh.

Further, the amendment bill – section 376AA and section 376D to IPC provides for punishment for such offences of rape and gang rape of women below 12 years by providing death punishment in addition to other punishments, a departure from the central legislation.

The bill also provides for amendment to Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Indian Evidence Act and Code of Criminal Procedure as consequential legislation. The amendments and insertions are outlined below.

Section 354: In section 354 of the principal Act, for the words “shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine” the words “shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine” shall be substituted.

Section 354B: In section 354B of the principal Act, for the words “shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine", the words "shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine; and be punished on a second or subsequent conviction with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to ten years and with fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees” shall be substituted.

Section 354D: In section 354D of the principal Act the following sub-section shall be substituted: “Whoever commits the offence of stalking shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine; and be punished on a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and with fine which shall not be less than Rs. 1-lakh provided that the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgement, impose a sentence of lesser period of imprisonment than specified minimum imprisonment.”

Section 376AA: After section 376A of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted: Punishment for rape on a woman up to 12 years of age. Under this, whoever commits rape on a woman up to twelve years of age shall be punished with death, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 14 years but which may extend to imprisonment for life which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, and shall also be liable to fine.

Section 376DA: After section 376D of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted for punishment for gang rape on a minor. “Where a woman up to 12 years of age, is raped by one or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offence of rape and shall be punished with death, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 20 years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life, and shall also be liable to fine provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses and rehabilitation of the victim, and provided further that any fine imposed under this section shall be paid to the victim.”