Govt to amend POCSO Act; include death penalty for child rapists

After the horrific details of the Kathua and Surat rape cases became public and led to nationwide protests, the government has started the process to include the provision of death penalty, in cases of rape of children, in the relevant law.

 

The central government submitted a letter to the Supreme Court on April 20 to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to introduce death penalty for rape of minors till 12 year of age.

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The government submitted this while responding to a PIL filed by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, seeking maximum sentence of death penalty to those offenders involved in the rape and brutal murder of children between the age group of 0 to 12.

The apex court three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and comprising of Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, fixed the matter for further hearing to April 27.

The Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi had earlier said that her ministry intends to amend the POCSO to make provision for death penalty in such cases. She was referring to the gang-rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.

(With ANI inputs)