Anti-rape law: group of ministers lowers age of consent to 16 years


A group of ministers assigned to finalise tough new anti-rape laws has decided that the age of consent will be lowered from 18 to 16 years; there will be no punishment for false cases filed that allege crimes against women and sustained stalking will be made a non-bailable offence while the first offence of voyeurism could be a bailable offence.

The ministers, headed by P Chidambaram, were given 24 hours to decide these and other points of dispute between different government departments. The cabinet will review the bill tomorrow, which will then be discussed by leaders of all parties on Monday.

The government has been keen to amend laws with stricter punishment for a wider range of crimes against women since the shocking gang-rape of a medical student on a bus in Delhi. She died in December of the horrific injuries.

Last month, in a signal of its determination to improve safety for women, the government cleared a package of laws through an ordinance. The ordinance has to be approved by Parliament before its recess from March 22, failing which it would lapse on April 4.

The government has been criticised for the delays in managing consensus among its senior ministers. The cabinet was divided over whether the bill should refer to the gender-neutral term of "sexual assault" or "rape"-it has decided on the latter, stating that sodomy will be addressed in a separate bill.

Lowering the age of consent was also disputed, the child and women's welfare minister Krishna Tirath argued that it would encourage child abuse but others said that lowering the age from 18 to 16 will prevent false accusations of statutory rape in cases where teenagers have consensual sex. 

Popular posts from this blog

PG Doctors of India must work not more than 48 Hr/week: SC

Image
As per the directives of the Honourable Supreme Court in its judgment dated,25.9.87, in writ petition No. 348-352 of 1985, all the State Governments, Medical Institutions and Universities are required to amend their rules and regulations to introduce a uniform residency scheme by 1993 “A uniform practice has to be evolved so that the discipline would be introduced. We accordingly allow the present arrangement to continue for a period of five yearsI.e. upto 1992 inclusive. For admission beginning from 1993 there would be only onepattern. All Universities and institutions shall take timely steps to bring about such amendments as may be necessary to bring statutes, regulations, and rules obtaining in their respective institutions in accord with this direction before the end of 1991 so that there may be no scope for raising of any dispute in regard to the matter.The uniform pattern has to be implemented for 1993. It is proper that one uniform system is brought into vogue throughout
Read more

Why DNB exam tougher than MS/MD exam?

Image
Guest article by Dr Kalyan R Kone   There were 6 people (accompanied by their relatives) sitting in the small waiting room outside the ward waiting for their call inside. They looked battered, tense and had such a depressed look in their eyes that even Shylock would have sympathized with them. They had cleared their DNB (Diplomate of National Board) theory exam and were making last minute preparations for their practical exam. If I were not told that they were all Doctors, I would have thought that they were all waiting for their turn to see a psychiatrist. Dr Kalyan R Kone Five out of six of those waiting doctors were appearing for the second or third time. In spite of that, they didn’t know what would be in store for them except one thing — only one or two would pass out of the six candidates. I thought for a moment that it was a good ploy by the NBE (National Board of Examination) to generate funds – after all, where would these poor guys go except appe
Read more