NEW DELHI—Offenders who rape girls under 12 may now be subject to the death penalty in India, according to an ordinance passed by India’s cabinet Saturday after a nationwide furor over the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl. It also doubled, to 20 years, the minimum punishment for the rape of a child under 16. Article Continued BelowOn Tuesday, Indian Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi called rape and child sexual abuse in India a “national emergency,” with 100,000 such cases pending in courts. Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nundy says that the rate of rapes has not decreased since the death penalty for the crime was introduced in India in 2013. In 2012, another highly publicized gang rape and murder of a young college student prompted India to tighten its rape laws and set up fast-track courts.

Source: thestar April 21, 2018 21:33 UTC