West Bengal Anti-Rape Bill: The West Bengal government on Tuesday passed the 'Anti-Rape Bill, 2024' in the Assembly, aimed at strengthening the protection of women and children. The law, officially called the 'Aparajita Mahila and Bal Bill (West Bengal Criminal Law and Amendment) Bill 2024', was introduced by state law minister Moloy Ghatak during a special session of the Legislative Assembly today.
State Law Minister Moloy Ghatak introduced the anti-rape bill during a special session in the Assembly and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described it as “historic”. The bill is set to come into force on September 5. Death penalty is mandatory for rape convicts if the victim dies or the offender leaves her unconscious.
During the debate on the bill, Mamata Banerjee urged the BJP MLAs to get the state governor to sign the bill and said, “This is a historic and model bill, and any well-thinking person will support it. I told the family of the deceased that if the police are unable to solve it, we will hand over the case to the CBI. Now the case is with the Calcutta High Court. Now we want justice from the CBI.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Suvendu Adhikari fully supported the bill and said that the opposition BJP MLAs want the bill to be implemented immediately. The amendments proposed in the bill brought by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari were not accepted by the House. After Adhikari's speech, opposition MLAs raised slogans and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Banerjee over the rape and murder.
According to this law, the death penalty is mandatory for rape convicts if the victim dies or the offender leaves her unconscious. Additionally, it provides for life imprisonment without parole for those convicted of rape and gang rape. The Act aims to strengthen protection for women and children by amending and introducing new provisions related to rape and sexual offences. A two-day special session of the Assembly was called on Monday (September 2, 2024) following an uproar over the incident at Kolkata's RG Kar College and Hospital.