West Bengal Parliament passes anti-rape law with strict punishment

Amid massive mass protests against the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar Hospital, the West Bengal Parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed a state anti-rape bill. The bill provides for the death penalty for rape victims if their acts result in the victim’s death or leave her in a vegetative state.

The bill, titled ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill, 2024’, proposes to amend the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, as applied to the state, to increase penalties for rape and child abuse.

“This is a historic law,” said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her speech to the assembly.

She said: “The Prime Minister could not do this. We did it. The Prime Minister is a disgrace to the country. He has failed to protect the women of this country. I demand the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary.”

The Chief Minister said the state government wants the central government to amend the existing laws and insert stricter clauses to ensure exemplary punishment for the perpetrators and speedier justice for the victims.

“They were not enthusiastic about it. That’s why we were the first to take the step. Once this bill comes into force, it can serve as a model for the rest of the country,” she added.

BJP MPs shouted slogans demanding Banerjee’s resignation over the RG Kar Hospital incident.

The bill was passed after BJP MPs, who form the opposition in Parliament, pledged their support. Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari alleged that Banerjee had brought the bill to “divert public anger and protests” over the gruesome crime.

The bill provides for the death penalty for those who commit rape and inflict injuries that result in death or put the victim in a vegetative state. For other offenders, it also provides for life imprisonment without parole. The bill also provides for a time-limited and expedited trial in rape cases.

According to legal experts, West Bengal has the power to enact a new anti-rape law. However, the fate of the Aparajita Act will depend on the decision of both Governor CV Ananda Bose and President Droupadi Murmu.

“Since our Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Penal Code come under a concurrent list, both the central government and the states can make laws. If a state wants to make laws different from the central government and make changes, it has the power to do so, but subject to the approval of the President of India. So, West Bengal can make a new anti-rape law. Now that the state assembly has passed the Aparajita Act for women and children, the government has to send it to the governor. If the governor passes the bill, it has to be sent to the president for final approval. If the president assents to the bill, the changes made in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) will be incorporated,” said senior advocate NG Khaitan.

“If the bill receives the President’s assent, then rape of any kind – be it gang rape, rape of a woman below 16 and/or 18 years of age, rape resulting in permanent disability and/or murder – will be punishable with life imprisonment and/or the death penalty in the state of West Bengal,” Khaitan said.