Centre mulling death penalty for rape of boys under 12
To make the Criminal Law (Amendment) ordinance, 2018 gender neutral, the ministry of women and child development plans to move the Cabinet to demand the same punishment — death penalty — also for those found guilty of raping boys under the age of 12. Notably, the April 22 ordinance mentioned death penalty only for convicted rapists of young girls, not all children. Here's more.
IPC rape amendment is only for girl victims
The ordinance, passed with the wake of the national outcry over the Kathua, Unnao and Surat rapes, amended IPC Section 376 (that deals with rape) and changed Section 42 of the POCSO Act 2012. Though POCSO is gender-neutral, the amended IPC Section 376 specifically mentions "woman" as the victim, thus excluding those raping boys under 12 years from the death penalty provision.
Undoing the wrong
The new ordinance therefore discriminates against boy rape victims by looking the other side, which essentially contradicts the core values of POCSO, which is a gender-neutral law. So, to correct this, the ministry of women and child development has drafted a proposal to amend POCSO Act's sections 4, 5 and 6, making raping "any child" below 12 punishable with death penalty.
Why was the amendment not made gender neutral?
The ordinance could have included boys when it was greenlit on April 22. Why didn't it? "Ordinances are temporary laws and are brought in as a response to extraordinary situations requiring immediate intervention. In the present case, it came in the aftermath of the brutal rape of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua," a senior government official told Hindustan Times on the condition of anonymity.
Parliament needs to approve ordinance within six weeks of reassembling
The new ordinance will have to be approved by the Parliament within six weeks of reassembling. The WCD ministry aims to get the POCSO changes greenlit by the Cabinet around the time the Parliament reconvenes and approves the ordinance so that they can be together made a part of a common law. Currently, the proposal is being sent to all other ministries for consultation.
