Death penalty for the rapists of minors- it has barely been 24 hours since the Cabinet approved of the amendment, and another rape case has been reported.
A 13-year-old girl from Bihar hung herself from the ceiling of her family’s house, unable to bear the mental agony of being repeatedly raped by her father.
The incident took place at a village in West Champaran district on Friday.
Police have arrested her father and an investigation is ongoing.
The accused had been sexually exploiting his daughter for a long time, reports say.
When the matter came to the knowledge of her mother, she brought the matter to the notice of the local village court.
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A court was subsequently held at the village last week during which both the victim and her accused father were extensively grilled by the villagers.
The court experience only increased her agony instead as everyone now came to know of the incident and the victim did not receive professional counseling.
Unable to bear the taunts of the villagers, the girl fled her home. But she was brought back earlier this week; she committed suicide on Friday.
Police assured a thorough investigation would be carried out.
“We have arrested the accused on the basis of a statement by the victim’s mother and further investigations are on,” the local district superintendent of police Jayant Kant told the media on Saturday.
The incident comes at a time when the Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a plan to allow courts to hand the death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years of age.
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The changes proposed in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 also include speedy investigation and speedy trials in such cases, increase in minimum quantum of punishment for rape convicts and scrapping of anticipatory bail if the victim is a minor.
The rise in cases reported of rape has become a matter of serious concern in Bihar.
According to data compiled by the state police, a total of 74 incidents of rape took place in January this year alone.
Overall, a total of 1,198 incidents of rapes were reported last year, compared to 1,008 cases in 2016 and 1,041 in 2015.
In contrast, a total of 927 rape cases were reported in the state in 2012, while 934 were recorded in 2011 and 795 in 2010.
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