The Justice J S Verma committee which was set up to suggest ways to make rape laws stronger in the country (after the gruesome gang rape of a trainee physiotherapist in Delhi last month), submitted its report.
Highlights of the report are:
a) New offences have been created and stiffer punishment has been suggested. The new offences include disrobing a woman, voyeurism, stalking and trafficking.
b) It has recommended enhancing the duration of punishment to up to 20 years in jail for rape leading to death or the victim being reduced to a vegetative state and life for gang rape. In case of gang rape leading to death, the person should be imprisoned for life. The present law provides for imprisonment to rapists ranging from seven years to life.
c) The panel sought amendments to Section 100 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the right of private defence, which extends to causing death.
d) The committee rejected the suggestion of chemical castration of rapists as it considered handing down such a punishment would violate human rights and that mutilation of the body is not permitted under the Constitution.
e) The committee has also touched upon marital rape and safety of women in conflict zones suggesting a review of the Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA) that can be used by the forces for exploiting women in areas of conflict.
f) According to the report the judiciary has the primary responsibility of ensuring fundamental rights through constitutional remedies. The CJI can take suo motu cognizance; social activists should assist the court. The Chief Justice of the high court of every state should device appropriate machinery for administration and supervision of these juvenile homes in consultation with experts in the field.
g) All marriages in the country -- irrespective of the personal laws under which such marriages are solemnised -- should mandatorily be registered in the presence of a magistrate and the magistrate will ensure that the marriage has been solemnised without any demand for dowry having been made and that the marriage has taken place with the full and free consent of both partners.
h) Medical examination of victims of sexual assault which were prepared on the basis of the best practices advised by global experts in the field of gynaecology and psychology.
i) Trafficking of minor children must be made a serious offence. Trafficking must be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may also extend to 10 years.
j) There is also a suggestion to bar elected representatives from holding office or for candidates to file nomination for election if a court has taken cognizance of the charge-sheet filed by the investigating agency.
The Justice Verma Committee formed to look into crimes against women
· ruled against recommending death penalty even in the rarest of the rare rape cases, and also did not favour lowering the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16.
· The committee, which was tasked with suggesting legal reforms to deal with sexual assault cases, however said the minimum sentence for a rapist should be enhanced from 7 years to 10 and that life imprisonment must always mean jail for ‘the entire natural life of the convict’.
· It has also recommended increase in quantum of punishment in cases related to crime against women and children, besides asking the government to consider forming a new constitutional authority like the CAG for dealing with issues related to education and non-discrimination of women and children.
· Presenting the report on ‘Amendments to Criminal Law’, prepared within a month after consulting experts from India and abroad and going through suggestions made by various voluntary and government organisations, Mr. Verma said at a time when there were talks of abolishing the death sentence, the committee has “enhanced the punishment to mean the remainder of life”. An overwhelming majority of scholars and women’s organisations told the committee they were strongly against death penalty.
“There is considerable evidence that the deterrent effect of death penalty on serious crimes is actually a myth. According to the Working Group on Human Rights, the murder rate has declined consistently in India over the last 20 years despite the slowdown in the execution of death sentences since 1980. Hence we do take note of the argument that introduction of death penalty for rape may not have a deterrent effect,” the Committee recommended.
The Committee also said that in the proposed Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2012, the minimum sentence for punishment for rape should be enhanced to a minimum of 10 years (currently it is 7 years) with maximum punishment being life imprisonment.
The Committee said castration would be unconstitutional and inconsistent with basic human rights treaties to expose any citizen without their consent to potentially dangerous medical side effects.
On the issue of reducing the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16, Mr. Verma said: “Assuming that a person at the age of 16 is sent to life imprisonment, he would be released sometimes in the mid-30s. There is little assurance that the convict would emerge a reformed person, who will not commit the same crime that he was imprisoned for (or, for that matter, any other crime).”
The Committee has criticised lack of reformatory and rehabilitation policies in jails and juvenile homes. “ We are completely dissatisfied with the operation of children’s’ institutions. It is time the State invested in reformation for juvenile offenders and destitute juveniles,” it observed.
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