President Pranab Mukherjee

INDIA: NEW, TOUGHER ANTI-RAPE BILL COMES INTO FORCE

April 5, 2013: Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the anti-rape bill which details life prison terms and even death sentences for rape convicts, as well as stringent punishments for such offenses as acid attacks, stalking and voyeurism.
Mukherjee accorded his assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill-2013 on Tuesday (April 2), brought against the backdrop of the country-wide outrage over the Delhi gang rape, and it will now be called the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, an official release said Wednesday (April 3).
The law, passed by the Lok Sabha (Lower House) on March 19 and by the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) on March 21, has replaced an ordinance promulgated on Feb. 3. It amends various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
With an aim of providing a strong deterrent against crimes such as rape, the new law states that an offender can be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a term which can't be less than 20 years, but which may extend to life, meaning imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's life and with a fine.
It has provisions for handing out death sentence to offenders who may have been convicted previously for such crimes. The law, for the first time, defines stalking and voyeurism as nonbailable offences if repeated for a second time. Perpetrators of acid attacks will attract a 10-year jail sentence.
It also defines acid attacks as a crime, as well as grants a victim the right to self-defense. It also has provisions for imposing a minimum 10-year jail term for perpetrators of such acts. The law has fixed the age for consensual sex at 18 years. New sections to prevent stalking and voyeurism were introduced following a strong demand from women's organizations. (Sources: chinapost.com.tw, 05/04/2013)