The Union Cabinet approved an ordinance to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years of age.The criminal law amendment ordinance seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Evidence Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to introduce a new provision to sentence convicts of such crimes with punishment of death.
The move comes against the backdrop of the alleged rape and murder of girls in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua and Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district.
The rape of a minor in Gujarat’s Surat district had also outraged the nation.The ordinance will now be sent to the President for his approval.