Govt finally agress on anti-rape law, facing test from allies and opposition now

The Union Cabinet on Thursday finally cleared an agreed draft of the anti-rape bill, adding  a minor safeguard by making the first offence of voyeurism a bailable offence. The real test for the proposed law aiming to provide stricter punishment for crimes against women now will be on Monday, when the government takes to an all-party meeting for build consensus ahead of piloting it in the Lok Sabha possibly on March 20.

The bill, which was cleared by a group of ministers  (GoM) proposes to lower the age of consent from 18 years to 16 years. The bill says stalking will be made a non-bailable offence. Earlier the GoM had proposed to make voyeurism also non-bailable offence. But now it has been made bailable, with a caveat that second offence shall he non-bailable. The new bill also proposes no punishment for false cases filed that allege crimes against women.

Last month, in the wake of an uproar following Delhi gang-rape incident, the government had issued an ordinance, which has to be approved by parliament before its recess from March 22, failing which it would lapse on April 4. Several ministries had expressed reservations at various clauses believing they were too harsh. The cabinet was divided over whether the bill should refer to the gender-neutral term of "sexual assault" or "rape".  The GoM shot finally decided to replace “sexual assault” with "rape" that is always used in various laws. A minister said a view was that sodomy can be addressed later through a separate bill.

Lowering the age of consent was also disputed, the child and women's welfare minister Krishna Tirath argued that it would encourage child abuse but others said that lowering the age from 18 to 16 will prevent false accusations of statutory rape in cases where teenagers have consensual sex.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013, also defines acid attack, and provides for death sentence if the victim dies or is left in a 'persistent vegetative state'

The government’s test is now to convince its allies the SP, the BSP and also the main opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), who have now expressed reservation at its various clauses. The BJP is under stood to have discussed the bill at an internal meeting. The  party sources say the BJP will oppose the lowering of the consent age, particularly when age for marriage continues to be 18, as it would only promote sex among youngsters before marriage.

Congress spokesperson PC Chakoo expressed confidence that the law will get parliamentary approval next week. He said the ministers were in touch with opposition leaders to arrive at a consensus, saying the government was open for constructive suggestions from any quarter. He claimed the sticky issues have been resolved.