INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The two rape cases in Jammu's Kathua and Uttar Pradesh's Unnao have sparked nationwide anger
government is expected to clear an ordinance, or emergency executive order, to bring in death penalty for child rape
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who returns from a five-day foreign trip, will chair a cabinet meeting today to change the law.Two cases of
rape in Jammu's Kathua and Uttar Pradesh's Unnao have provoked the biggest displays of public anger since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a
young woman in the national capital.Much of the anger was targeted against leaders of the ruling BJP who were seen to be protecting the
It was amid this public anger that Union Minister Maneka Gandhi last week put out a video message that spoke about her intention to request
the Cabinet to introduce death penalty for people guilty of raping children below 12 years.Prime Minister Narendra Modi also got called out
by the International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday
She called the gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl in Kathua "revolting" and hoped "Indian authorities, starting with Prime
Minister Modi pay more attention" to the condition of women.The barrage of criticism is seen to have contributed to the decision to take the
proposal to change in the law to the Union Cabinet
Just a few months back, the NDA government had blocked suggestions to introduce death penalty for a minor's rape during a hearing at the
Supreme Court."The death penalty is not the answer to everything," the government's law officer PS Narasimha had told the court in January
this year.Existing provisions stipulate a minimum jail term of seven years for a minor's rape
casesA police officer said he wasn't sure how this change to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, enacted by parliament
as an overhaul of the country's rape laws, would help.Experts have long argued that certainty of punishment, not harsher sentences, were a
deterrent to crimes.According to statistics compiled by the crime records bureau, the courts convict only 3-4 out of every 10 men charged
The rest are back on the streets, sooner or later.But fixing the country's criminal justice system requires such an effort, money and time
that successive governments opt for band aid solutions, the officer said.
