New Delhi: Even as outrage continues over the Kathua rape and murder and a slew of such cases reported since, Union Minister Santosh Gangwar landed controversy when he suggested not to make a “big deal” out of such incidents.
Aisi ghatnaye(rape cases) durbhagyapurn hoti hain,par kabhi kabhi roka nahi ja sakta hai.Sarkar sakriya hai sab jagah ,karyavahi kar rahi hai.Itne bade desh mein ek do ghatna ho jaye to baat ka batangad nahi banana chahiye: Santosh Gangwar,Union Minister pic.twitter.com/yy3JJQQ4oz? ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2018
Gangwar, who is BJP MP from Bareilly, holds portfolio of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment.
The Union Minister’s controversial remarks came hours before President Ram Nath Kovind signed an ordinance promulgated by the Union Cabinet, providing for death penalty to those convicted of raping a girl under 12 years of age.
The move comes amid anger over the recent rapes of minor girls in Jammu’s Kathua, Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao, Surat and in Indore, where a four-month-old infant was raped and murdered. Much of the anger has been directed at politicians for irresponsible comments and attempts to politicise the crimes for electoral gains.
In his first comments since the Kathua and Unnao rapes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last week said that no criminal will be spared and daughters will get justice. "Such incidents shake our sensibilities. I want to assure the nation that no criminal will be spared. Justice will be done. Our daughters will get justice," he had said at an event to inaugurate the BR Ambedkar memorial in New Delhi.
As per the latest ordinance, death sentence has been provided for rapists of girls under 12 years. The minimum punishment in case of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years, extendable to life imprisonment.
In case of rape of a girl under 16 years, the minimum punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to imprisonment for rest of life, which means jail term till the convicts "natural life". The punishment for gang rape of a girl below 16 years will invariably be imprisonment for the rest of life of the convict.
Stringent punishment for rape of a girl under 12 years has been provided with the minimum jail term being 20 years which may go up to life in prison or death sentence.Gangrape of a girl under 12 years of age will invite punishment of jail term for the rest of life or death, it said.(With agency inputs)
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