Anti-rape law to get more teeth

There are possibilities of trying perpetrators of heinous crimes as adults if they are above 15

The Delhi government's attempt at toughening its stance and treatment of perpetrators of heinous crimes, especially of a sexual nature and perpetrated by minors, through amendments to the existing anti-rape law is expected to see the light of day by the end of this month, it has been reliably learnt.

A Group of Ministers (GoM), constituted at the orders of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and tasked with evolving recommendations aimed at adding more teeth to the existing anti-rape law and the possibility of trying the perpetrators of heinous crimes such as rape and murder among others as adults if they were above the age of 15, is, according to a senior government official, is ready with a report. The recommendations are expected to be submitted by latest by next week.

Headed by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the GoM had originally been given a fortnight from October 19 to submit its report but was, according to a senior Delhi government official, allowed an extension after it began consultations with a team of legal experts formerly associated with the Justice JS Verma Committee which was constituted in the wake of the December 16 gang-rape incident and had recommended several tough amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) afterwards.

A source close to Mr. Kejriwal said the Chief Minister had already presided over two preliminary and unofficial presentations related to the recommendations with its official version currently in the process of being finalised.

Apart from a 'young team of Delhi-based lawyers who had worked on the JS Verma Committee Report',The Hindu has learnt that several legal luminaries including KK Venugopal, TK Viswanathan, Gopal Subramaniam, Dayan Krishnan and senior functionaries associated with the National Law University (NLU) and the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) are in the process of vetting the final report.

In addition to examining amendments to the existing anti-rape law so that the State could try the perpetrators of heinous crimes over 15, among the GoM's most significant deliberations is the recommendation of life imprisonment and death penalty against those accused of such cases and the setting up of a special police force which could be approached by survivors of sexual crime if they 'felt dissatisfied with the action taken by the local police'.

The GoM is also looking into the possibilities of instituting more fast-track courts to try cases of sexual assault, the appointment of special public prosecutors in all rape cases and the institution, within a week, of a Commission of Inquiry aimed at recommending amendments to laws against crime perpetrated against women and children a resolution in favour of which was passed by the Delhi Assembly this August.