A time when rape of women and children is rampant in the country a new Criminal Law (Amendment) 2018 bill was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday.  Rapists of girls under the age of 12 face the death sentence while the imprisonment for the rape of women in general has been raised from 7 years to 10 years.

Effectively a child rapist would spend a minimum of 20 years in prison or a life imprisonment or death.  Earlier it was rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and the most severe punishment was a life sentence.  The new amendment also recomends that a rape case investigation should be complete within two months from the date of the FIR. The appeal after conviction in a lower court will also come up for hearing within six months as against the no time limit before.  Anticipatory bail cannot be sought in a case where a girl under sixteen has been violated.

Most significant in the new law is that lawyers cannot examine the past character of the victim in their defence.  The outrage among the people has been extreme when hearing news about brutal rapes especially of children and this new bill passed should give great hopes for a safer future for the fairer sex.