Madhya Pradesh plans death penalty for rapists of girls aged 12 or below

Calling rape “a bigger crime than murder”, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had first talked about the death penalty to rapists after the December 2012 Delhi rape case. He had demanded a special Parliament session to amend laws to punish rape with the death penalty and had announced that those found guilty of rape and molestation will not be provided government jobs.

Malaiya said those found guilty of molestation, harassment or stalking will also be given harsher punishment. A fine of Rs 1 lakh will be imposed on such offenders, he said.

New sub-sections will be added to the Section 376 of the IPC to accommodate the proposed changes. The Bill proposes to amend Section 493 to punish men accused of raping women on the pretext of marriage.

Once the Assembly clears the Bill, it will be sent to the Central government with a request to send it to the President for approval.

Chouhan later tweeted about the Bill too. The government has already said that the Bill will make a provision that the public prosecutor will be heard before considering the bail plea of the accused.

In the Cabinet’s last meeting, a couple of ministers had sounded a note of caution about the death penalty. One said the prospect of the death penalty might prompt the rapist or rapists to kill the victim.