India’s Cabinet has accepted most of the recommendations of a commission for toughening laws for crimes against women, including increasing the penalty for rape.
The panel was set up in response to the fatal gang rape in December of a young woman on a moving bus in New Delhi. India’s Law Minister Ashwini Kumar says the Cabinet recommended on Friday that the president issue an ordinance to turn the proposals into law.The commission recommended an increase in the penalty for rape to 20 years and suggested life terms for gang rape.
The minister did not give details. However, the Press Trust of India news agency said the Cabinet went beyond the panel’s recommendations by providing for death sentences in cases where a rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in a “persistent vegetative state.” – KahleejNews
