In the wake of the August 9 rape and murder of a junior doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the West Bengal Assembly Tuesday unanimously passed a Bill that seeks capital punishment for a rape convict if the assault results in the death of a victim or leaves her in a vegetative state, and life sentence without parole for any other offender.
The proposed ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024’ includes provisions for the completion of a probe into a rape case within 21 days of the initial report, a reduction from the previous two-month deadline, and women officers leading investigations by a Special Task Force into such incidents.
Speaking during the Assembly discussion on the Bill, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described the proposed legislation as “historic” and rejected the Opposition charge that her government had not done enough for the security of women.
“We formed 88 fast-track courts and 39 women police stations. We handled the whole (R G Kar Hospital) case sympathetically. I gave Kolkata Police seven days to arrest all culprits, but the next day it was sent to the CBI. I have no problem. I now want justice from the CBI. We wanted capital punishment from the very first day,” she said.
Banerjee demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Ministers of states that have “not been able to implement effective legislations to safeguard women”.
The Opposition BJP, on the other hand, slammed the TMC and demanded Banerjee’s resignation, accusing her party of trying to change the direction of the R G Kar Hospital case.
The CM said, “When the Nyaya Sanhita was being implemented, I wrote to the Prime Minister that they should not be in a hurry to implement it. There should have been more clarification. Had that happened, this situation would not have arisen.”
The Bill proposes to amend provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, “in their application to the State of West Bengal to enhance punishment and to constitute the framework for… expeditious investigation and trial of the heinous act of violence against women and children”.
In the context of the probe period, the Bill states, “If it is not possible to complete the investigation within… 21 days from the date of information recorded by the officer-in-charge of the police station, then the said period can be further extended not exceeding 15 days by any police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police or equivalent, after recording the reasons in writing in the case diary maintained under Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.”
The amendments establish fast-track courts which “will be equipped with the necessary resources and expertise to handle cases of rape of women and sexual offenses against children efficiently, effectively, and timely,” the Bill states.
It said the “Aparajita Task Force”, a Special Task Force at the district level, will be constituted to investigate cases of rape or atrocities on women and children. It will be “headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police for the investigation of specified offences as defined under clause (e) of Section 2 of the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024.”
The Bill seeks to amend Sections 64, 66, 70(1), 71, 72(1), 73, 124(1), and 124 (2) of BNS, which broadly pertain to punishment for rape, rape and murder, gang-rape, repeat offenders, disclosure of victim identity and even causing hurt by use of acid, etc. It also proposes to omit Sections 65(1), 65 (2), and 70 (2) of the said Act, pertaining to the punishments for convicted rape perpetrators under 16 years, 12 years, and 18 years respectively.
“The investigations under sub-section (1), carried out under specified offences by the Special Task Force shall, as far as possible, be conducted by a female police officer. All officers of the government or any other person whose assistance is sought, whether orally or in writing, shall without any delay assist the officers of the Special Task Force. Whoever… causes delay or intentionally omits to give such assistance, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with a fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both,” the Bill states.
The punishment for repeat offenders in such cases would be imprisonment for life.
The proposed legislation also seeks to penalise the unauthorised printing or publishing of any matter related to court proceedings with a punishment of “imprisonment of 3 to 5 years and fine”.
BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who is the Leader of Opposition, proposed amendments which included “any police officer(s) or any medical practitioner who delays or shows negligence in conducting appropriate medical test(s) or post-mortem shall be subject to imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life or death”. And that any attempt to tamper with or destroy evidence by any authority concerned shall be subject to imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life or death.
After listening to these proposed amendments, Banerjee said, “We will check whether it is already in the Nyaya Sanhita. If not, we will include it.”
Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates