Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Indian government considering death penalty for child rapists

India's government on Saturday (21) approved the death penalty for child rapists, after the gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl and a series of other horrific sexual assaults caused nationwide outrage.

Prime minister Narendra Modi called a cabinet meeting to pass the measure Saturday on his return from the Commonwealth summit, a government official said.


Protests have erupted across India in recent days over the rape and killing of the young Muslim girl by a group of Hindu men in Jammu and Kashmir state, increasing pressure on Modi to take action.

The attack sent out the sort of shockwaves that shook the country after the equally horrific gang rape of a Delhi student on a bus in 2012, which made headlines around the world.

The cabinet approved the ordinance amending laws on sexual violence to allow for capital punishment for those convicted of raping children below the age of 12, the official said.

Minimum jail sentences for convicted rapists were also toughened.

"The ordinance will be sent to the president for his consent," the official said on condition of anonymity. The president's approval is seen as a formality.

The new decree requires trials involving child victims to be completed in two months after an arrest, unusually speedy for India where the wheels of justice turn slowly.

The order will remain in effect for a period of six months from the president's approval, or until parliament votes the changes into law.

In recent months, four Indian states have already introduced similar legislation in local parliaments to approve the death penalty for child rapists.

India has the death penalty for the most brutal murders and terror attacks. But the sentences are rarely carried out and are often struck down on appeal by higher courts.

India carried out its last hanging in 2015 of a 1993 Mumbai bombing convict.

- Public anger -

The recent protests began after police accused eight Hindu men of raping a Muslim girl in a bid to force her nomad community out of a Hindu-dominated area of Jammu and Kashmir.

Public anger boiled over after police last week made public how the girl was drugged, repeatedly raped while held captive for five days at a Hindu temple and then beaten to death.

India previously introduced tougher laws in 2013 after the brutal New Delhi gang rape.

The incident triggered weeks of street protests and global condemnation.

But sexual violence, including against children, remains unabated in India, with some 11,000 child rape cases reported in 2015.

A 2014 UN report said one in three rape victims in India was a minor.

On Saturday, police in central Madhya Pradesh state arrested a man over the rape and murder of a four-month-old girl.

The infant's blood soaked body was found on Friday in a building in Indore city hours after she went missing.

Police said the suspect was a distant relative of the victim and had targeted the child after an argument with her mother.

Activists say lax implementation of laws and snail-paced trials fuel the "rape culture" in India, with many accusing police of being slack in cases involving influential people.

Modi's government faced criticsm after one his party members in Uttar Pradesh was accused by a teenager of raping her.

The politician remained free for almost a year after police rejected pleas from the victim to file a rape case against the lawmaker.

He was finally arrested last week after the teenager tried to set herself on fire outside the residence of the state chief minister, triggering a wave of protests.

More For You

karan-thakar

Karun Thakar is a leading textile collector with a lifelong focus on Asian and African textiles

Karun Collection

Karun Thakar Fund to support textile research with scholarships and grants

THE KARUN THAKAR FUND, established by textile collector Karun Thakar in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), supports the study of Asian and African textiles and dress through scholarships and project grants.

The fund offers one-time Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 for university students worldwide focusing on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from any accredited university are eligible, provided their research or practice is clearly linked to these areas. The next round of Scholarship Award applications opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at 23:59 on July 15, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Asian leaders recognised in King's birthday honours list

Professor Jagtar Singh (Photo: Facebook)

Asian leaders recognised in King's birthday honours list

ASIAN health workers, academics, charity workers and campaigners are among those who have been recognised in the King’s birthday honours list announced tonight (13).

More than a thousand recipients have been awarded for their exceptional achievements, with a particular focus on those who have given their time to public service, according to the Cabinet Office.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India

A view shows the wreckage of the tail section of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from airport in Ahmedabad. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Probe focuses on engine and flaps; safety checks ordered for 787 fleet

THE INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the aircraft's engine, flaps, and landing gear.

The Indian aviation regulator has ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, reported Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Thunderstorms to Hit East & South-East England; Met Office

The warning indicates a high risk of disruption

Getty Images

Thunderstorms to hit East and South-East England as Met Office issues amber warning

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for thunderstorms across parts of eastern and south-eastern England, in effect from 20:00 BST on Friday to 05:00 on Saturday. The affected area spans from Eastbourne in East Sussex to Cromer in north Norfolk.

The warning indicates a high risk of disruption, with flash flooding, power cuts, and hazardous travel conditions expected. The Met Office warns that flooding of homes and businesses is likely, and delays or cancellations to bus and rail services are possible due to surface water and lightning strikes.

Keep ReadingShow less