A court in Jaipur on Saturday awarded death penalty to a 19-year-old man for raping a seven-month-old girl, the Hindustan Times reported. This is the first death sentence ordered under the Criminal Law (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill, 2018, which was passed by the state Assembly in March.
The accused was convicted on Wednesday within 70 days of the incident. Special Judge Jagendra Kumar Agarwal of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe court in Alwar conducted 13 hearings over 22 days.
On May 9, the accused, Pintu, raped the child in a school building. The girl was found a kilometre away from her home in Laxmangarh, NDTV reported. The accused was arrested after medical examination confirmed rape.
Suma Sharma, the chairperson of women’s commission in Rajasthan, said the court’s order would set a precedent. “It will bring relief to mothers of girls who worry about the safety of their daughters,” she told the Hindustan Times.
This week, the Union Cabinet decided to introduce a bill that provides stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years. If approved by Parliament, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, will replace the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance that was approved in April after protests against the murder and alleged rape of a girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua in January.
Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have also introduced similar pieces of legislation.
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