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Amendment of POCSO on to hang child-rape accused, Centre tells SC

Saturday, April 21, 2018 • Common Comments
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Amendment of POCSO on to hang child-rape accused, Centre tells SC

The BJP-led Centre has informed the Supreme Court of India that it was considering amending the existing provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO Act) to make it mandatory to award death penalty to the accused persons if their sexual assault or rape of girls below 12 years is established beyond doubt.

Of late, the print and television media have been reporting increasingly disturbing incidents of child-rape and murder. Kathua in Kashmir witnessed one of the most heinous crimes where in 8-year old Asifa Bano was reportedly gang-raped by a gang of 8 (including a retired Govt. official, his son, four policemen and a juvenile) inside an abandoned temple before she was murdered in January. The incident came to light only recently.

Unnao and Surat and Pollachi didn’t fall behind as similar instances of child-rape were reported. Union Minister of Women & Child Development Menaka Gandhi and actress-turned-politician and BJP M.P. Hemamalini demanded that capital punishment be meted out to those who indulge in such indescribable acts.  A public interest litigation (PIL) petition was also filed in this regard with the Supreme Court.

Responding to the PIL petition, the Centre told the apex Court that it was in the process of amending the provisions of POCSO Act to make it mandatory to award death penalty to those accused and found guilty of forcing themselves on girls below 12 years of age.

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