Francis Fernandes

The government of Madhya Pradesh deserves to be complimented for enacting and passing a bill to send to the gallows persons convicted for rape of girls under the age of 12 years of age. Madhya Pradesh thus becomes the first state in the country to pass such a bill.

Rapes are criminal acts. In spite of the last Presidential Decree signed by former President Pranab Mukerjee in 2013 awarding stringent punishment for rapists, rapes have not stopped, rather the figure has gone up and there have been more rapes and subsequent murders of rape victims.

Rapes are in no way justified but experience has shown worldwide that during war times rapes have taken place universally. During and after the World War II, millions of rapes had taken place and over a million illegitimate children were born. In India thousands of rapes of women, children and infants have been taking place more prominently after 2012 after the infamous and cruel rape in Delhi following which India featured on the international map as a hub for rapes and one can assume rapes have taken place in India during peace times and thousand or thousands of illegitimate children may have been born or done away with.

The government of Narendra Modi was elected with high expectations to do justice where the previous dispensations failed to take corrective measures in regard to honour and safeguard the dignity of women, children and infants. Modi’s government has numbers to enact and pass stringent rape laws and many foreign nations have been critical of rape laws in India following the rape and murder of rape victims of their nationals on the Indian soil.

While complimenting the Madhya Pradesh government for enacting the law to send to the gallows those convicted of rape of girls under the age of 12 years of age, it is very important to remember that the law requires amendments as rapists will do away with the victim for fear of being exposed by the victim as evidence is the bone of contention before any court in India which is not the case in some countries which just go by circumstantial evidence and laboratory proofs sufficient enough for detention and further trial of the rapist.

Importantly rape is an encroachment on one’s Fundamental Rights and should not be a state subject. Rapes of minor children, and infants in particular, constitute acts of animalism, acts of brutality and cruelty and degradation of human society which deserve maximum punishment beyond forgiveness, but when we stand before the law the punishment meted out to a rapist is inconsistent with the offence committed. 

Hence it is for the Union Government or the present government to enact tough laws for rapists for the entire country, a law as stringent whilst dealing with terrorists who disturb peace of mind and cause enormous damage to the society. The rapists also disturb peace of mind and cause untold sufferings to the rape victim and the families of the rape victims. If the rate of rape is low in many countries it is on account of the fear factor of the law initiated in those countries which is absent in our country. Fear of the law is the key in many developed and under developed countries with punishments of chemical castration and life imprisonment or even death sentence of crude murders of rape victims.

While congratulating the PM for his gift of Rs 6000 for every pregnant woman as announced on December 31, 2016, a measure that will help boost increase in our population it is more important to articulate laws which will allow women, children and infants to live in peace and tranquillity who will develop healthy societies which in turn will contribute for the overall development of the nation.