Raising concerns over the death penalty provisions in The Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has returned the legislation to the State government for further consideration.
“One of the proposed amendments seeks to enhance the punishment for rape under Section 64 of the BNS, 2023, raising it from the existing minimum of 10 years to life imprisonment for the remainder of one’s life or death. The Ministry of Home Affairs has termed this change as excessively harsh and disproportionate,” an official of Raj Bhawan, Kolkata, said.
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The West Bengal Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed the Aparajita Bill on September 3, 2024, introducing stringent punishment in cases involving sexual assault. The Bill was sent to President Droupadi Murmu by the Governor on September 6, 2024.
The legislation, which was passed 25 days after the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, provides for the death penalty in five categories of offences — rape, rape by a police officer or public servant, rape causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state, gang rape, and repeat offenders.
