The West Bengal Legislative Assembly on September 3 unanimously passed an anti-rape Bill in the aftermath of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old female postgraduate trainee doctor in the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The Bill known as the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, prescribes the death penalty for rape and also imposes a life sentence without parole on those convicted.
The Bill prescribes a compulsory death penalty for the offence of committing rape and inflicting injury that results in the death of the victim or causes her to be in a vegetative state. This is a first-of-its-kind penal provision since no other offence in any other law prescribes a mandatory death sentence.
It also stipulates that investigations into cases of rape and sexual assault of children be concluded within 21 days of filing the FIR, significantly reducing the previous two-month deadline.
However, extensive studies conducted by National Law University Delhi’s Project 39A have revealed that there is very little evidence to show that the death penalty acts as an effective deterrent to crime with data indicating that a significant portion of death sentences are later commuted or overturned on appeal.
Production: Aniket Singh Chauhan
Script and reporting: Aaratrika Bhaumik
Published - September 09, 2024 09:10 am IST
